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Bloomberg

A senior US State Department official reassured African governments that an initiative to help counter China’s influence through developing infrastructure on the continent will continue even after a change in administration.
The flagship of the plan – a railway project known as the Lobito corridor that connects copper and cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo to an Atlantic port in Angola – is already far advanced, Helaina Matza, acting special coordinator for the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, said on Wednesday.
The Biden administration has championed the Lobito project as part of a Group of Seven (G7) infrastructure plan.
The programme aims to deploy US$600 billion by 2027 to close the infrastructure gap around the world to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative and secure access to minerals critical to the energy transition.

Yet questions have emerged whether Donald Trump would continue the effort if he wins November’s presidential election.
“Every dollar that you have heard – that’s announced already – is in motion,” Matza said in response to a question on what a new administration could mean for the Lobito corridor and other efforts. “What we’re focused on right now is how do we identify those last pieces that we need to get moving.”
The United States initially proposed US$250 million in financing for the corridor from its International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). Its board has since signed off on US$553 million in funding, which Congress is yet to approve.
The group of companies that won the concession to operate the rail line linking Angola’s Lobito port to the Congo border expects the first disbursement in the first quarter of 2025.
The central African copper belt that Zambia and Congo share has become the centre of a regional railway revival, as companies and governments seek to ensure there’s enough transport capacity to bring in supplies and boost exports of metals.
Currently 80 per cent of goods on the continent are transported by road with truck journeys to ports sometimes taking more than a month, often with days-long border queues.
Zambia is also eying the revitalisation of another historic railway route to Dar es Salaam port in Tanzania. The governments aim to sign a deal next month with China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation for the state-owned company to take over the concession of the Tanzania-Zambia, or Tazara, line and operate it commercially.
While the US has said it wants to connect Lobito to the Tanzania coast via a trans-African railway, it is unclear whether the new Tazara concessionaire would be open to this.
“We think it’s really important to leverage existing infrastructure,” Matza said. “If we are given an opportunity to find a way to create some compatibility and open access connectivity between the work that we’re doing and Tazara and or other existing rail lines, we’re certainly going to do everything we can to pursue that.”


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Mpox surge in DR Congo: hospital overwhelmed with patients as virus vaccine demand rises

Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

A man carries a bag of minerals as people separate cobalt from sand and rock at a lake near a mine between Lubumbashi and Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photo: AFP 

A train passes through Tanzania on the Tazara line. Photo: Shutterstock

De-risking from Chinese copper would cost world US$85 billion, ‘mess up’ supply chains

China controls 97 per cent of global smelting and refining capacity, energy analytics firm Wood Mackenzie said in a report. Photo: Bloomberg

Chinese mining firm files judicial review against Canada

The company logo of Zijin Mining. Photo: Reuters

An underground tunnel in a copper mine. Ottawa has taken a tough stance against investments by state-owned Chinese companies in Canada’s critical minerals sector. Photo: Shutterstock

Chinese firms agree to raise investment in Democratic Republic of Congo copper-cobalt mining deal

Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi announced the new deal when he was sworn in for a second term as president last month. Photo: AP 

The Chinese companies remain the majority shareholders in the Sicomines project. Photo: Sicomines

How we sleepwalked into a global mpox emergency: ‘I don’t think the world has learned’

Christophe Chavilinga, 90, suffering from mpox, waits for treatment at a clinic in eastern Congo. Photo: AP

Patients listen to a doctor outside the Mpox treatment centre at Nyiragongo General Referral Hospital on August 17. Photo: AFP

A child his helped by her mother as a health worker looks on at the Mpox treatment centre at Nyiragongo General Referral Hospital on August 17. Photo: AFP

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The US has approved US$553 million in funding for the Lobito railway project as it seeks to counter China, secure access to critical minerals


The US has approved US$553 million in funding for the Lobito railway project as it seeks to counter China, secure access to critical minerals.
