Lobito - Angola will assume the presidency of the Lobito Corridor Transit and Transport Facilitation Agency, (LCTTFA ) during the second meeting of ministers from the member states of this institution, to be held t on Wednesday , ANGOP has learned.
At a press conference, the spokesperson for the LCTTFA Expert Committee, Pedro Manza Lopes, stated that the mandate will be four years, which may be renewed.
'The presidency of LCTTFA L will be rotating, complying with SADC regulations from an alphabetical point of view', he clarified.
He added that it is a tripartite agreement, which means that the Agency's duration positions will be assumed by the three member states.
Pedro Manza Lopes, also director of the Legal Office of the Ministry of Transport, informed that Angola has created all working conditions, in terms of infrastructure, materials and equipment to accommodate the people who will be appointed by the three States to work at the headquarters of the LCTTFA.
Regarding what has already been done since the institution's first meeting, held on December 14, 2023, he said that the budget to maintain the Agency was approved.
He considered it to be one of the institution's main advances, since the first meeting of the three member states, Angola, DRC and Zambia.
'The signaling of this budget will last for three years and Angola, as host, will preside over the Agency in the first four years of start-up and will support this budget, as well as the existence of some protocols that must be harmonized at the level of the three member states ', he explained.
According to the spokesperson for the Committee of Experts, this situation implies that Angola may have facilities for some dry ports to serve the DRC and Zambia, specifically in Lobito.
'These are some points that ministers will encounter, and it is certain that the technical work that is being developed at the level of the Executive Committee will allow ministers to make decisions duly supported by the analysis that experts and technicians have developed', he said.
The spokesperson stated that experts and technicians are comfortable with the approval of this instrument of capital importance, as well as the organic structure.
He said that the ministers understood, at that time, that, while the current phase was ongoing, an interim Secretariat for the Agency had to be implemented.
In this sense, the creation of a technical group integrating experts from the three member countries was recommended, he explained.
'It was for this reason that today we witnessed the closure of the LCTTFA Technical Committee, which in practice responds to the ministers' recommendation', he informed.
Regarding the work agenda, 'very exhaustive', he referred to the approval of the Agency's organic structure, the description of the individuals who will occupy the positions and the budget proposal.
Asked about the impact of LCTTFA, the director stated that the objective is to allow the fluidity of goods that will transit along the Lobito Corridor and that will directly benefit the DRC and Zambia, landlocked countries.
'This will allow operators to use a single entity to speak to the three member states at the same time', he said.
One of the aspects that has been raised is the existence of some tariff barriers along the Corridor.
Regarding this issue, he said that the Agency will allow the three countries, in a unique way, to be able to work and speak with the same line user, without the need to resort to internal processes. TC/CRB/DOJ
