Once completed, the Lobito Corridor will help transport these important minerals from the resource-rich heart of Africa across to Europe and the US.
The Lobito Corridor is a joint project between the three African countries, the US, other G7 powers and private investors.
But more and more African countries are considering reducing the export of raw materials to promote local processing.
He is optimistic that the vast deposits of copper in DR Congo and Zambia will keep the Lobito Corridor viable as there exists “a steady demand” for it globally.
He describes Biden’s visit, and the investment in the Lobito Corridor, as a huge boost for Angola’s efforts to change its image.
As Donald Trump gets ready to take over as president in January, Joe Biden has started his eagerly awaited first trip to sub-Saharan Africa as US president, but it comes amid uncertainty about future US-African relations.
According to some analysts, Biden’s trip to oil-rich Angola aims to highlight America’s efforts to counter China’s influence on the continent more directly by concentrating on trade and significant infrastructure investment.
According to Angolan analyst Edmilson Angelo, “it’s a perfect marriage of convenience,” he told the BBC.
As the first US president to visit Angola, Biden’s decision is noteworthy and represents a significant improvement in the two countries’ relationship.
After gaining independence from Portuguese colonial rule in 1975, Angola was firmly in the political orbit of China and Russia. However, since assuming power in 2017, President João Lourenço has guided the country toward closer ties with the United States.
According to Alex Vines, director of the Africa program at Chatham House, a think tank based in London, “under Lourenço’s administration, Angolan foreign policy has shifted from ideology towards pragmatic multipolarity, becoming truly non-aligned.”.
Biden will highlight his flagship project in the area, a 1,344-kilometer (835-mile) railway line that will connect the copper-belt region of Zambia and the cobalt, lithium, and copper mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the port city of Lobito, Angola, on the Atlantic Ocean.
In addition to oil, Angola is abundant in minerals like lithium and cobalt, which are necessary for the production of batteries for electric cars.
These vital minerals will be transported from the resource-rich center of Africa to Europe and the US with the aid of the Lobito Corridor once it is finished.
According to the Lobito Corridor Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) website, the US participation “represents the first alternative from Washington DC to China’s Belt and Road Initiative,” which aims to establish a network of trade routes connecting various African and other nations to the Asian powerhouse.
There is currently uncertainty regarding whether the Trump administration will proceed with the project, and Biden’s visit coincides with the end of his presidency.
It “may survive the Trump presidency as it is primarily aimed at competing against China,” according to Dr. Vines.
As he notes, the infrastructure will be available to both Chinese and Western companies, which “may make its value questionable to Trump, a US president who will likely define his administration in large measure by competition with Beijing.”.
“I hope the Trump administration will expand on the initiative,” Lourenço said.
“Powers come and go, so, all we have to do is to be ready to work with those that will be in power,” he told the New York Times prior to Biden’s visit.
The US, other G7 nations, private investors, and the three African nations are all partners in the Lobito Corridor project.
According to Helaina Matza, the project’s acting special coordinator at the US Department of State, “the G7 countries have committed a total of $600 billion [£470 billion] in global support and more – through 2027.”.
In defense of the investment, Lourenço dismissed worries that it resembles the resource exploitation of colonial Africa.
He told the New York Times, “As opposed to the colonial era, when the minerals were extracted without the consent of our indigenous people, today, when we export the minerals, we export them in the interest of the African countries.”.
However, in an effort to encourage domestic processing, an increasing number of African nations are thinking about lowering their raw material exports.
This could sabotage the corridor’s anticipated economic impact, according to Anthony Carroll, a minerals expert at the US Institute of Peace.
Because there is “a steady demand” for copper worldwide, he is confident that the Lobito Corridor will remain viable due to the enormous copper deposits in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
He claims that demand for lithium and cobalt is more “cyclical.”.
DR Congo is estimated by the US Geological Survey to contain almost half of the world’s cobalt deposits.
Currently, roughly 63% of the world’s supply of the mineral—the majority of which is exported raw—comes from the large central African nation.
Mr. Angelo is hopeful that the industrial capacities of African nations will gradually increase.
Angola’s efforts to improve its image have been greatly aided by Biden’s visit and the investment in the Lobito Corridor, he says.
According to Mr. Angelo, “He presents Angola as a safe place to invest,” and “the world follows the US president wherever he goes”. “,”.
In Angola, infrastructure has been being rebuilt since the end of a nearly 30-year civil war in 2002.
Only 3% of the corridor’s colonial-era Benguela railway line remained operational at the end of the conflict, having been destroyed in the process.
After that, attempts were made to bring it back to life, and China was the first to invest in it.
