In the shadow of the railway

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 6 November 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

After years of Chinese investment in Africa, the West is fighting back. Through the Lobito Corridor project, the US and European countries are investing billions in Angola’s Benguela Railway, which runs from southern Africa’s interior to Angola’s Atlantic coast. The aim is to build a quick and reliable supply chain to export African minerals to the West. These minerals power the chips in all our gadgets, so they are pivotal in the US’s tussle with China. Plus, the project promises huge economic gains for Angola. Marcia Veiga takes the train to find out if ordinary Angolans will benefit, or if it is another case of foreign powers extracting African resources for their own gain.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.
0:05.6	This is the documentary from the BBC World Service.
0:09.0	I'm Marcia Vega.
0:15.0	My mother and I would live home at 5 a.m. to catch the train.
0:23.0	By around 8 or 9, the sun would be up, and we would walk at 2-to-3-hour journey on foot,
0:30.6	carrying heavy loads on our head under the scorching sun.
0:36.6	Abort the 8.30 a.m. from Luena to Lubito,
0:39.9	Mawesh Kakumba, a long-serving train inspector on Angola's Bengela Railway, is telling me about his life.
0:48.6	The diesel locomotive growls ahead, pulling nine carriages, as the train winds through
0:53.9	open planes dotted with
0:55.4	Reed Hearts, Tim Holmes and roadside stalls.
0:58.7	We're heading west, through the country's interior, on a 700-kilometer journey towards
1:04.6	the Atlantic coast.
1:06.6	I was born in 1973.
1:09.9	My mother raised five children on her own.
1:13.9	This was a time in Angola when hunger was everywhere.
1:17.8	She survived only by selling fish.
1:20.7	When he was a child, this railway was his family's lifeline.
1:24.7	At the time, there was minimal transportation.
1:27.7	So, the train was hugely important when I was growing up.
1:33.7	Kakumba and his mother would travel on the train each day to sell fish.
1:39.1	Once at the market, my mother and I would do our business there.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.