The United States and its Western partners are accelerating development of the “Lobito Corridor,” a major railway and logistics route linking Angola’s Atlantic port of Lobito with the copper and cobalt mining regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia. According to South Africa’s Daily Maverick, the corridor bypasses South Africa’s traditional port network and offers a shorter, more reliable export route for strategic minerals to Atlantic markets. Analysts view the initiative as part of a Western effort to reshape African supply chains and reduce China’s dominance over critical minerals and Belt and Road infrastructure across the continent.
Africa holds roughly 30 percent of the world’s mineral reserves, including major shares of cobalt, chromium, manganese, gold, and platinum-group metals. China has long expanded its influence through infrastructure-for-resources agreements, financing railways and ports in exchange for mining access. Chinese firms are also increasingly investing in local refining and processing facilities, shifting from simple resource extraction toward vertically integrated mineral supply chains.
Since 2023, the United States and the European Union have backed the Lobito Corridor with more than $2.7 billion in investment, aiming to establish alternative supply chains for critical minerals and challenge China’s dominant position in Africa’s mining logistics network.
Source: Epoch Times, May 27, 2026
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/26/5/26/n14774871.htm