en.Wedoany.com Reported - The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has approved a partnership with Portuguese construction company Mota-Engil to advance the full rehabilitation of the railway within the DRC section of the Lobito Corridor through a public-private partnership model, aiming to enhance the country's export transport capacity for critical minerals such as copper and cobalt.

Mota-Engil, which is already involved in operating the railway line connecting the Port of Lobito in Angola, may be responsible for the renovation and operation of the railway within the DRC in the future. This line traverses key copper and cobalt resource areas including Kolwezi, Tenke, and Lubumbashi.

Headquartered in Portugal, Mota-Engil is an international engineering and construction group with operations spanning infrastructure, railways, highways, ports, mining engineering, and industrial projects, primarily in Africa, Europe, and Latin America. In recent years, the company has actively participated in African infrastructure projects, including railway construction for the Lobito Corridor and mineral transport infrastructure projects in the DRC.

The DRC is the world's second-largest copper producer and the largest supplier of cobalt. Chinese companies CMOC Group and Zijin Mining Group hold significant positions in the development of copper and cobalt resources in the region.

A railway project connecting Zambia to the Lobito Corridor is also underway, which is expected to further broaden export routes for African copper resources, improve transport efficiency for copper and cobalt minerals in Central Africa, and enhance the mining export capacity of the DRC and surrounding areas.