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Lobito is one of the most beautiful cities on the African Coast, hence the name Angola's Visitors' Room, with its sandbank that stretches for more than 3 km, “the blue city, almost floating, that the sea kisses and dates with dangerous love". Lobito has the most important sea port on the west coast of Africa, and the country's second cargo port.

Host city of the municipality of the same name, in the province of Benguela, located on the Atlantic coast. It has 3,648 km² and today has a population of more than 200,000 inhabitants. It limits to the North with the municipality of Sumbe, to the East with the municipality of Bocoio, to the South with the municipality of Catumbela and to the West with the Atlantic Ocean.
Only in March 1843 did D. Maria II approve the birth of the city of Lobito, formerly known as Catumbela das Ostras. There were only a few sheds and a coconut plantation to consolidate the sandbank.

In 1888 a fiscal post was created, which was entrusted to old José Maria dos Santos, then the only white man who lived there for over 30 years.

But it was only at the dawn of the present century (1902), with the beginning of the construction of the Benguela Railway, that Lobito emerged from the slump in which it was immersed for more than 300 years. With the concession of the railroad given to the Englishman Robert Williams, the city definitively laid its foundations in a daily combat against the swamp. In less than 20 years, Lobito went from an abandoned bay covered with mangroves to a modern city, testing the Benguela Railway and having a modern port. In these years, marshes were landed, the construction of the market started, the bridge was built on the Lobito-Benguela Road, the CFB's post office building, Hotel Términus (the best of the Province for many years), the chapel of NS da Arrábida.

The 1925 “Bulletin of the General Agency of the Colonies” does not shy away from saying that “Lobito is the most beautiful city on this coast”. And he explains that this is due to three factors: “Excellence of your port; Be forehead of the C.F.B line; Wealth of the 'economic basin', that is to say the set of regions whose routes of communication to the coast must have their forehead in Lobito. ”In effect, at that time the pier already had 225 m of mooring wall, comprising the largest shipping lines in the world, being also a sea port of the vast central plateau of Angola, comprising the rich areas of Huambo, Bié, Moxico. But it was not only a maritime “station” in the interior of the colony, it was also the natural port of much of southern Africa, and the most economical for communications between the copper mines of Catanga (Belgian Congo) and the ports of Europe. . In 1929, the C.F.B. finally reached the border of the Belgian Congo. In Angolan territory the line was 1347 km long. Now the port of Lobito, which is more economical because it is much closer to Europe, could already replace those in Beira and Cabo in the flow of ore. The increase in the number of passengers on the train is impressive: in 1908 it is 25,957 to change, in 1926, to 233,865.

At the end of the 1940s, large avenues were torn up and the main neighborhoods began to be designed: Restinga, the most chic, exclusively residential, with spacious houses that now face the Atlantic, now the bay. 3 km long and in some places not even 300 m wide, it was an authentic garden emerging from the sea. It was said that even the palms of the palms clapped their beauty. The only drawback was when the sea climbed everything in times of flood; the Central or Commercial District alternated this activity with the residences, here was also the port and all its dependencies, the terminal station of the Benguela Railway, the City Hall, the Post Office, the Hotel Términus and the Municipal Market; further on, on the way to Benguela, already outside the port area and of more recent construction, there was the Bairro do Compão, an area reserved for the less affluent class; with similar characteristics, perhaps a little more commercial, the Bairro da Caponte appeared; right in front of the restinga, on the other side of the port, there was the housing reserved for the indigenous people, known as Canata. Here, although there were already masonry constructions, reed and zinc still prevailed. In the dubbing of the 50's Lobito definitely “cosmopolitanized” itself. In order to respond to the constant appeal of its inhabitants and visitors, whose number was constantly increasing, the increasingly intense trade on the three streets surrounding the Municipal Market, which in a short time was completely surrounded by exquisite shops reminiscent of the Bulhão from Porto. New hotels have emerged. In the surroundings the industry increased. The port activity is experiencing an unprecedented development. And with the Catanga Secession War, in the former Belgian Congo, the port of Lobito gained even more movement. At this time, the total amount of ores transported was around 500 thousand tons per year. It had a movement similar to that of Leixões, only being surpassed, in terms of tonnage, by Lisbon, Lourenço Marques and Beira. From Lobito also came corn, cements, plastics, zinc, sisal, oils and sugars.

Now, the young population of the city demanded amusement and entertainment. The cinema sessions at the Cine-Esplanada do Jardim Flamingo, on the other side of the Compão, were famous. Under a gigantic concrete visor, built by the engineer Edgar Cardoso, children, young people and respected masters sheltered themselves from the sun and the rain, delighting in the latest box office hits. It was above all an informal and relaxed atmosphere, allowing mobility never allowed in the old and heavy Cine-Imperium. At Christmas time, the façade of the Municipal Market was covered with lights and in Praça D. Carlos stood a huge tree profusely lit. Carnival was reputed to be the best in Angola. His parades in Salazar Square were famous. Here, in front of the City Hall and under a decorative Portuguese sidewalk - this square was intended to resemble the Terreiro do Paço, not to mention the quay of the columns - the marches of the popular saints also took place, in which the different neighborhoods competed according to the originality of costumes and dance. "

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