On 21 August, Financial Times dedicated a material to the Lobito Corridor – a railway line connecting the resource-rich southern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Lobito port in Angola, along with “roads, bridges, telecommunications, energy, agribusiness” and other infrastructure to be developed in the area of the corridor.
The United States has actively participated in the financing and promotion of the Lobito Corridor, the overall cost of which is set to be “at least $10bn.”
There are also plans to extend a branch of the corridor to another resource-rich area – the “copper belt” in northern Zambia, connecting it to the Angolan port as well.
In helping develop the new corridor, the US seeks to gain access to some of the Central African critical minerals, copper and cobalt in particular, for itself and European countries. The minerals in question have been actively sought and acquired in Africa by China for many years.
Copper and cobalt are vital metals for manufacturing many types of military equipment, as well as for a number of categories of hi-tech civilian products.
Efforts Category: US Economic Cooperation with Angola and DRC
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