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Expanding the Lobito corridor

US President Biden wants to make the Lobito Corridor project a legacy of his administration’s Africa policy on his visit to Angola next week

After repeated delays, United States President Joe Biden’s valedictory visit to Angola has been rescheduled for 2 December. He is to be welcomed at Lobito port by Angolan President João Lourenço, and a special summit for regional leaders involved in the project is on the agenda.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden will meet with ‘African and private sector leaders and reaffirm the US partnership on a series of high priority issues, including security, health and the economy’.

The US has so far invested around US$3 billion in the rail project between Lobito and Zambia’s Copperbelt, which is seen as a belated attempt to improve access to critical minerals in Central Africa and rival China’s parallel investments in logistics (AC Vol 65 No 18, Luanda’s oil revival wins more backers after $6bn Kwanza development). The US has partnered with the European Union, itself also trying to catch up with Beijing in sourcing the minerals needed to power its green transition and manufacture electric vehicle batteries.

Given the pre-occupation of Biden’s successor Donald Trump with the US’s international rivalry with China, the Lobito Corridor could be one of the few US foreign policy objectives to be kept on.

Republican sources close to Trump have indicated that the new president is more likely to try to expand the project, potentially by building a rail link between the Copperbelt and the Indian Ocean (AC Vol 65 No 23, Leaders look for deals in the Trump marketplace).

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