Webuild-led team picked to build 517 km of new freight railway across Zambia

The lot covers engineering, procurement and construction of the Zambian section, Webuild said on Oct. 27. The route crosses areas without large-scale infrastructure and includes eight stations, three maintenance depots and 22 bridges and viaducts, all built for heavy freight. Webuild leads the joint venture, and İçtaş and Mota-Engil hold 30% each.

For the Angolan section, AFC, the project's sponsor and developer, chose a different group, Mota-Engil working with Odebrecht Engineering and Construction, World Construction Network reported. That puts Mota-Engil on both teams. The two sections add up to about 831 km of new railway. In Angola the line will join the Benguela Railway at Luacano. That existing line, part of the Lobito Corridor, runs to the Atlantic port of Lobito and is being rehabilitated.

Neither pick is a signed contract. Technical, commercial and legal negotiations are set to open in November 2026, and AFC aims to finish them within eight to 12 weeks, according to World Construction Network. None of the announcements gave a contract value. Italy backs the project through its Mattei Plan for Africa, and the US, the EU and the G7 count the corridor as a priority for critical-mineral supply chains.

Sponsors say the railway will cut transit time for Copperbelt cargo such as copper and cobalt to world markets from 16 days to seven, and they put the economic benefit for Zambia and Angola at about $3 billion.