It would create a line from the south of Katanga and a point to be defined between a confluence of the Lufira and the Lualaba where it would connect to the Rhodesian network.

The Commandant Alphonse Jacques, future general and Baron de Dixmude, led an expedition in 1903 to find a route linking the navigable part of the Lualaba to the southern border of Katanga.

[1] On 31 October 1906 the CSK, the Congo Free State and the Société Générale de Belgique founded the Compagnie du chemin de fer du bas-Congo au Katanga (BCK) to build a rail link from Bukama to Port Franqui on the Kasai River and to carry out mining research in a defined area.

Jean Jadot, who had built the 2,215 kilometres (1,376 mi) Beijing–Hankou railway in China, was made managing director.

BCK was responsible for all the track in Katanga, and operated the network and equipment as a whole, while CSK owned the concession.