非洲金融公司已选定一个由欧洲和土耳其企业组成的联合体，来承建一条穿越赞比亚的铁路线。该铁路的建设将是美国支持的洛比托走廊项目迈出的重要一步，该项目旨在将关键矿产和金属运往安哥拉的大西洋沿岸。这项耗资数十亿美元的开发工程还包括对安哥拉铁路的升级改造，是华盛顿试图挑战中国在非洲矿产出口市场主导地位的努力的一部分。
The Africa Finance Corporation named a European-Turkish consortium to build a railway line through Zambia, the development of which will be a major step in the US-backed Lobito Corridor project to transport critical minerals and metals to Angola’s Atlantic coast. The multibillion-dollar development, which also includes upgrading Angola’s railway, is part of Washington’s attempt to challenge China’s dominance in Africa’s mining export market.
意大利的Webuild、葡萄牙的Mota-Engil以及土耳其的İçtaş被选为洛比托铁路赞比亚段515公里全新线路的首选投标方。Mota-Engil——中国交通建设股份有限公司是其股东之一——与巴西的奥德布雷希特工程与建设公司则被选中承建安哥拉段。总部位于拉各斯的发展融资机构非洲金融公司表示，合同谈判定于下月启动，预计将持续八至十二周。
Italy’s Webuild, Portugal’s Mota-Engil, and Turkey’s İçtaş were picked as the preferred bidders for Zambia’s 515-kilometer brand-new stretch of the Lobito railway. Mota-Engil, which counts China Communications Construction Company as a shareholder, and Brazil’s Odebrecht Engineering and Construction were selected for the Angolan section. Contract talks are due to start next month and are expected to last eight to 12 weeks, Lagos-based development financier AFC said.
根据一份环境研究报告，该线路的建设成本可能高达50亿美元。但非洲金融公司首席执行官萨迈拉·祖拜鲁在接受Semafor采访时，在合同谈判进行期间拒绝透露具体数字。
The route’s construction could cost up to $5 billion, according to an environmental study. But when interviewed by Semafor, AFC CEO Samaila Zubairu declined to give a figure while contract talks were underway.
洛比托走廊是非洲最受关注的基础设施项目之一，因为它被视为西方大国首次重大尝试，旨在为铜和钴等被视为对经济和国家安全至关重要的关键金属开辟一条替代出口路线。它被广泛解读为对“一带一路”倡议的回应——中国用十多年时间通过建设港口、铁路和矿业资产来扩大影响力。
The Lobito Corridor is one of Africa’s most closely watched infrastructure projects because it is seen as the first major attempt by Western powers to create an alternative export route for critical metals such as copper and cobalt, regarded as crucial for economic and national security. It is widely presented as a response to the Belt and Road Initiative, in which China spent more than a decade building influence through the construction of ports, railways, and mining assets.
但祖拜鲁驳斥了有关洛比托只是把非洲资源运出非洲大陆的批评，他对Semafor表示，该走廊将成为安哥拉、赞比亚及邻国刚果民主共和国工业化的催化剂。他说：“每当你出口原材料，你出口的就是创造就业的机会，而你所做的只是输入通货膨胀。”
But Zubairu rejected criticism that Lobito is just about shipping African resources out of the continent, telling Semafor that the corridor would be a catalyst for industrialization across Angola, Zambia, and neighboring DR Congo. “Any time you export raw material, you export the opportunity to create jobs, and all you do is import inflation,” he said.
为了支持他的论点，他提到非洲金融公司及其他机构委托进行的一项2021年研究。该研究发现，电池生产的一个关键环节在刚果民主共和国完成，成本比在中国或波兰更低，排放也更少。
To back up his argument he pointed to a 2021 study commissioned by AFC and others, which found that a vital part of battery production could be done more cheaply, and with lower emissions, in DR Congo than in China or in Poland.
非洲金融公司还在推介洛比托能源走廊。祖拜鲁表示，这家贷款机构正在讨论输电线路基础设施，计划将电力从安哥拉输送出来。据估计，安哥拉有2吉瓦的搁浅水电电力，大致相当于非洲最大水电站之一——安哥拉劳卡水电站的发电量，这些电力可以支持沿线工业活动。
AFC is also pitching the Lobito energy corridor, with Zubairu saying the lender is discussing power line infrastructure that would move electricity from Angola, which is estimated to have 2 gigawatts — or roughly the equivalent to the output of Angola’s Lauca hydropower, one of Africa’s largest — of stranded hydroelectric power that could support industrial activity along the route.
洛比托走廊建立在殖民时期的本格拉铁路基础上，这条铁路曾将矿产从中部非洲的铜矿带运往安哥拉的洛比托港。2023年美国、欧盟、安哥拉、赞比亚和刚果民主共和国支持该项目后，重振并扩展这条线路的兴趣激增。截至4月，非洲金融公司已获得每年约100万吨货运量的承诺。
The Lobito Corridor builds on the colonial Benguela Railway, which once carried minerals from central Africa’s copperbelt to Angola’s Lobito port. Interest in reviving and expanding the route surged after the US, EU, Angola, Zambia, and DR Congo backed the project in 2023. As of April, AFC had secured commitments for roughly 1 million tonnes of cargo annually.
意大利已承诺提供融资支持，非洲金融公司也已获得意大利出口信贷机构SACE的意向书。华盛顿表示，它已为该项目动员了超过40亿美元的美国投资。
Italy has already committed financing support, and AFC has secured letters of intent from SACE, Italy’s export credit agency. Washington says it has mobilized more than $4 billion of US investment for the project.
当被问及为何没有非洲公司进入建设这条铁路的最终名单时，祖拜鲁表示，非洲金融公司优先考虑那些有可靠过往记录、能够“按时且在预算内”交付大型基础设施项目，并具备贷款方所需担保的承建商。他说：“我希望下一次我们做类似项目时，它实际上来自非洲。”
Asked why no African companies made the final cut for building the railway, Zubairu said AFC prioritized builders with a proven track record of delivering large infrastructure projects “on time and on budget,” and with the guarantees required by lenders. “I’m hoping that the next time we’re doing a project like this, it actually comes from Africa,” he said.
非洲金融公司还在开发一个以尼日利亚InfraCredit为模板的担保计划，试图将非洲养老金资金引入基础设施领域。非洲金融公司宣布与慕尼黑再保险公司启动一项10亿美元的风险分担计划，根据该计划，这家德国再保险公司将分担该贷款机构在11个非洲国家38家银行的短期贸易融资风险敞口的一部分。
AFC is also developing a guarantee program modeled on Nigeria’s InfraCredit in an effort to channel African pension-fund money into infrastructure. AFC announced a $1 billion risk-sharing program with Munich Re under which the German reinsurer will take a share of the lender’s short-term trade finance exposures across 38 banks in 11 African countries.
路透社4月报道称，非洲金融公司正在与至少10家贷款机构洽谈，计划筹集30亿至50亿美元，目标是在2027年底前敲定所有融资协议。非洲开发银行8月批准了2.55亿美元的首批资金，用于赞比亚在该走廊项目中的部分。
Reuters reported in April that AFC was in talks with at least 10 lenders to raise $3 billion to $5 billion, aiming to wrap up all financial agreements in late 2027. The African Development Bank approved a $255 million first tranche for Zambia’s part in the corridor in August.