Inside the Road to Lusaka Kickoff Webinar
In October 2025, five fully electric vehicles drove 1,600 kilometres from Nairobi to Addis Ababa with no existing charging infrastructure. The expedition proved that’s possible. Since then, private sector players have begun exploring charging station investments in southern Ethiopia. Sometimes all it takes is someone showing what can be done.
In June 2026, the Road to Africa initiative will attempt to do it again, this time along one of the most strategically important corridors on the continent: the 2,440-kilometre route from Lobito, Angola to Lusaka, Zambia. A fully electric truck and passenger EVs will drive the Lobito Corridor by road, testing off-grid and grid-connected charging solutions along the way, and capturing data and stories that can help others imagine an electrified future for this trade route.
The initiative hosted its official online kickoff webinar, bringing together corridor agencies, energy utilities, investors, entrepreneurs, and development partners. The excitement was real, and so was the ambition.
What Is the Lobito Corridor?
The Lobito Corridor is a railway and road infrastructure system connecting the port of Lobito on Angola’s Atlantic coast to the mineral-rich Copper Belt regions of Zambia and the DRC. Backed by a US$753 million financing package from the US International Development Finance Corporation and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, with additional commitments from the EU, the African Development Bank, and the African Finance Corporation, it is one of the largest infrastructure investments on the continent.
The strategic significance is straightforward. Today, for Zambia and the DRC to reach European, North American, or South American markets, goods must travel east to ports like Mombasa or Dar es Salaam. The Lobito Corridor opens a door to the west. It gives landlocked countries direct Atlantic access, reducing freight transit times from over a month to approximately one week. That changes the economics of trade for the entire region.
The corridor is about more than minerals. Agricultural goods, processed products, and manufactured components will all move along it. Three countries that speak three different languages, Portuguese, French, and English, will be connected through shared infrastructure. That presents coordination challenges, but it also offers a model: if cross-border trade harmonisation can work here, it can work elsewhere on the continent.
The Corridor Is Taking Shape
The webinar opened with a presentation from the Lobito Corridor Transit Facilitation Agency (AFTTCL), the tri-national body established in 2023 by Angola, Zambia, and the DRC to coordinate development along the corridor. Captain Lambert, special advisor to Executive Secretary H.E. Amadeu Nunes, outlined the investment pipeline: port expansion at Lobito, logistics hubs along the Benguela railway, the Angola-Zambia electricity interconnector, mineral processing zones, industrial development in the DRC, and modernised border posts. In Zambia, a new rail line will connect the Copper Belt to Angola’s existing Benguela Line, with a parallel 500-kilometre road alongside it.
The scope extends well beyond extractives. Agro-processing, battery value chain industries, and community development along the corridor are all part of the agency’s mandate. As recently as February 2026, the three governments met in Luanda to agree on coordinated action steps, signalling a shift from planning to implementation.
Nordic Business Sees Opportunity
Solveig Tangen, CEO of the Norwegian African Business Association (NABA), framed the corridor as a major opportunity for Nordic companies to engage beyond traditional oil and gas. Norwegian expertise in logistics, technology, renewable energy, and investment can contribute across the full value chain. NABA will make the Lobito Corridor a central theme at the Nordic African Business Summit in Oslo on 8 October 2026.
Zambia Is Ready for Partners
Chimuka Nketani, Director of Investment at the Zambia Development Agency, outlined the opportunity on the Zambian side. Construction services for the rail and road buildout, logistics hubs and dry ports along the route, and agricultural investment on over 100,000 hectares of government-designated arable land in the Copper Belt region. The government is backing the EV sector directly, with procurement of electric vehicles and the establishment of a special economic zone on the Copper Belt for EV battery production in partnership with the DRC. Zambia is positioning itself to capture value along this corridor, and the invitation to investors and partners is open.
Proving What’s Possible
A panel moderated by Natalie Becker-Aakervik brought together Nick Hu (Kabisa), Lydia Jonathan Kapangila (Africa Youth Energy Network), Andrew Munganga (Impact Centre), and Ayo Sopitan (Metalex Commodities) to discuss what it will take to make the corridor’s electrification a reality.
The economics are already working elsewhere. In Rwanda, Kabisa’s partners are running electric haulage at scale, saving 20% on total costs and 80% on fuel. Hu’s point was clear: the numbers already add up. What is missing is a first mover on this corridor to prove it. That is exactly what the Road to Lusaka expedition aims to be.
Kapangila placed the opportunity in a continental context. With the African Continental Free Trade Area gaining traction and global demand for cleaner supply chains growing, the Lobito Corridor sits at the intersection of trade, energy, and sustainability. Getting this one right would create a model that other corridors across Africa could follow.
Munganga and Sopitan focused on what needs to come together. Charging infrastructure along the route, harmonised policy and incentive frameworks across the three countries, shared data between energy companies and transport operators, and workforce development so young Africans can build careers in this emerging sector. Sopitan also pointed to battery swapping as a model worth standardising along the corridor, referencing electric earth-moving equipment already operating in Zambia on that principle.
Angola Is Mapping the Path
Pedro Buca of ENDE, Angola’s national electricity distribution company, shared that ENDE is working with UNDP on an electrification programme across the five Angolan provinces the corridor passes through: Benguela, Huambo, Bié, Moxico, and Moxico-Leste. A dedicated team has been assembled to map infrastructure needs and identify sites for future charging stations. Private investment will play a key role, as the charging sites themselves will be privately operated. The groundwork is being laid.
Why This Drive Matters
The Road to Lusaka will be far from perfect conditions. The expedition will drive the corridor fully electric by road in early June, bringing portable chargers and working with ENDE and ZESCO to charge at substations along the way. The goal is to capture real data on distance, terrain, and energy demands, while telling the stories of the communities and economies along this route.
This is the same approach that worked on the Road to Addis. Show that it is possible, capture the evidence, and let that open the door for investment and infrastructure. Once people can see an electric truck completing this corridor, the conversation shifts from whether electrification is feasible to how quickly it can scale.
Convenings in Lobito and Lusaka will bookend the expedition, bringing together the broader ecosystem of stakeholders. Partners are still being onboarded.
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Webinar Speakers and Panellists
Mikkel Becker-Aakervik, Co-Founder, Thought Leader / Intro Africa (Host)
H.E. Amadeu Nunes, Executive Secretary, Lobito Corridor Transit Facilitation Agency (AFTTCL)
Captain Lambert, Special Advisor, AFTTCL
Solveig Tangen, CEO, Norwegian African Business Association (NABA)
Chimuka Nketani, Director of Investment, Zambia Development Agency (ZDA)
Pedro Buca, ENDE (Empresa Nacional de Distribuição de Electricidade), Angola
Natalie Becker-Aakervik, Co-Founder, Thought Leader (Panel Moderator)
Nick Hu, Co-Founder, Kabisa
Lydia Jonathan Kapangila, Founder, Africa Youth Energy Network
Andrew Munganga, Founder and Executive Director, Impact Centre
Ayo Sopitan, Founder and CEO, Metalex Commodities Inc.
