From September 10 to 13, the Fact-finding mission organized by the Practitioners’ Network (PN) for International Cooperation took place along the Lobito Corridor, with stops in Lubumbashi (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Ndola and Lusaka (Zambia).
The initiative, which saw the participation of representatives from AICS, the European Union, and the development agencies of 9 EU Member States (in addition to Italy, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, the Czech Republic, Finland, and Portugal), aimed to strengthen internal coordination and identify concrete ways to contribute, in a Team Europe approach, to the development of the Corridor.ù
The Lobito Corridor, promoted as part of the EU Global Gateway and strongly supported by Italy, includes the rehabilitation and construction of railway and road infrastructures that will connect the interior mining areas of the DRC and Zambia to the port of Lobito (Angola).Alongside the infrastructural component, the project also includes a ‘soft’ dimension aimed at fostering sustainable, social, and economic development of local communities, promoting trade, employment, and inclusion in agricultural and mining supply chains.
During the mission, the delegation met with government authorities, civil society, the private sector, and local businesses, visiting strategic locations such as the Ruashi mine (DRC), the Société du Traitement de Terril, which specializes in recycling mining waste, and the Zambian Copperbelt region.
In the DRC, the mission held an institutional meeting with the SNCC Authority, the National Railway Company.
In Zambia, in Ndola, the delegation visited the Copperbelt Province, welcomed by the Permanent Secretary of the Province; stakeholders such as the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ZACCI) were also involved, sharing the private sector’s perspective, along with representatives of civil society.
Finally, in Lusaka, the mission met with government representatives (including the Ministry of Treasury – Finance and Planning) and the European Union Ambassador Karolina Stasai.
On the occasion of the stop in Lusaka, as the central appointment of the program, AICS also opened the new Lusaka office, which is under the headquarters in Maputo, in the presence of the Italian Ambassador to Zambia, Enrico De Agostini, the UN agencies, and the Italian NGOs. On this occasion, Director Marco Rusconi reiterated the renewed commitment of Italian Cooperation in the country, with particular attention to the sectors of food security and environment, in line with the Mattei Plan and the vision of the Global Gateway.
