Portugal’s Mota-Engil is set to sign a 30-year concession with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to rehabilitate and operate a key railway serving the country’s copper and cobalt mining regions, in a deal that could unlock up to $1 billion in US financing.
According to Bloomberg, the agreement covers the Congolese section of the Lobito Corridor, a strategic transport route designed to move critical minerals from Central Africa to Western markets through Angola’s Atlantic port of Lobito.
People familiar with the matter said the Congolese government and Mota-Engil were due to sign the agreement in Kinshasa.
The railway, stretching about 1,000 kilometres, passes through major mining centres including Kolwezi, Tenke and Lubumbashi.
Its rehabilitation is expected to improve the movement of copper and cobalt from the DRC’s mineral-rich interior and provide an alternative export route to those currently running toward ports on Africa’s eastern and southern coasts.
Mota-Engil already has a role in the wider Lobito Corridor. The Portuguese construction group is part of a joint venture with commodities trader Trafigura operating the Angolan section, which connects the DRC border to the Atlantic port of Lobito.
The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has emerged as an important potential financier of the Congolese railway.
In December 2025, the agency signed a letter of interest with Mota-Engil for financing of up to $1 billion to support the rehabilitation and operation of the line.
The DFC said the proposed project would connect with the Lobito Atlantic Railway in Angola and strengthen regional trade and critical-mineral supply chains.
“This investment is a prime example of President Trump’s unprecedented commitment to advancing peace,” DFC chief executive Ben Black said in December, adding that the projects would help “secure vital supply chains, expand private-sector opportunity, and strengthen America’s global competitiveness while supporting peace, prosperity, and dignity in Central Africa.”
The railway is strategically important because the DRC is the world’s second-largest copper producer and leading source of cobalt, both of which are increasingly important to global manufacturing and energy-transition supply chains.
Chinese companies currently account for a significant share of the country’s copper and cobalt production, increasing the strategic importance of alternative supply routes and Western investment in the sector.
The development also highlights growing competition over African mineral infrastructure. China-backed investors are advancing a $1.4 billion overhaul of the TAZARA railway linking Zambia’s Copperbelt with Tanzania’s Indian Ocean port of Dar es Salaam, creating a competing route for minerals from the region.
For the DRC, completing the Congolese section would create a more continuous rail connection between its mining heartland and Lobito, potentially reducing dependence on long-distance road transport and improving access to international markets.
The project therefore extends beyond a railway rehabilitation programme. It represents a major piece of infrastructure in the growing US and European effort to secure access to critical minerals while strengthening trade links between the DRC, Angola and the wider Southern African region.