The line terminates at the port of Lobito on the Atlantic coast, from where Angola exports a wide variety of products, including minerals (from the Copperbelt region), food, industrial components and livestock.

From there to Tenke, the railway is operated by the Société nationale des Chemins de fer du Congo.

[9] In 1899, the Portuguese government initiated the construction of the railway to give access to the central Angolan plateau and the mineral wealth of the then Congo Free State.

Construction was halted until 1920 after which the railway's connection to Luau at the border to the Belgian Congo was completed in 1929.

The primary purpose was to facilitate export trade, while "the domestic Angolan traffic would be of secondary importance.

[citation needed] In its heyday, the Benguela Railway was the shortest way to transport mineral riches from the Congo to Europe.

The line proved very successful and profitable, especially in the early 1970s after Zambia closed its border with the then Rhodesia.

Société Générale de Belgique purchased a minority share in Tanks in 1923 and acquired a controlling interest in 1981.

This joint venture involved Trafigura, a Singapore-based company, Mota-Engil, headquartered in Portugal, and Vecturis SA, a Belgium-based rail operator.

[28] The awarding of the concessions took place in the presence of Presidents João Lourenço of Angola, Félix Tshisekedi of the DRC, and Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia.

[32] In the Tolunda rail accident on 22 September 1994, damaged brakes caused a train to plunge into a canyon, killing 300.