FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.
COMMUNIQUÉ: Inaugural Lobito Corridor Community and Investment Indaba 2026
13th –14th October 2026 | Solwezi, North-Western Province
Theme: “Connecting Critical Minerals, People and Markets – Building a Corridor for All”
Convened by the North-Western Civil Society Forum and Caritas Solwezi
PREAMBLE
In Solwezi, where land is mother, pharmacy, food store and inheritance, we gathered as custodians of North-Western Province with one conviction: there must be no development without the PEOPLE. The Lobito Corridor must benefit people, protect land and empower the communities of North-Western Province.
We, traditional leaders led by Chief Mumena, the Church led by Rt Rev Bishop Charles Kasonde, the Council led by His Worship the Mayor of Solwezi, representatives of communities from Mushindamo, Solwezi, Kalumbila, Ikelenge and Mwinilunga Districts, women, youth, faith leaders, farmers, small businesses and civil society, met with Government, mining companies, the private sector and development partners for two days of conversations and open dialogue. We came with a shared warning and a shared hope.
Our warning is that the Lobito Corridor is being planned, financed and negotiated in high-level meetings, far from the people who live along its route. Memoranda are signed, strategies are validated and investments are announced, while the families whose land, water and livelihoods lie in the corridor’s path are the last to know. Too often our people learn about a project when the pegs are already in the ground.
Our hope is that it is not too late. If the people are brought into the conversation now, before the bulldozers arrive or displacements of people, the corridor can still become what its theme promises: a corridor for all. The world is searching for critical minerals. We must not forget the critical people who live where those minerals are found.
Download the entire copy of the COMMUNIQUÉ On The Inaugural Lobito Corridor Community And Investment Indaba 2026 here: https://caritaszambia.org/phocadownload/general/COMMUNIQUE-On-The-Inaugural-Lobito-Corridor-Community-And-Investment-Indaba-2026.pdf
