Biden advances the Lobito railway project by meeting with African leaders in Angola.

In an attempt to counter Chinese influence in the area, U.S. President Joe Biden met with African officials on Wednesday in the port of Lobito, Angola, to discuss a plan to build a railway that would transport vital minerals from Zambia and Congo to the West.

The primary foreign participant in the DRC’s mining industry, which exports minerals deemed essential for batteries and other industrial components essential to the country’s move away from fossil fuels, is now China.

As part of the first phase of the Lobito endeavor, the United States has loaned $550 million to fund the renovation of an existing railway across Angola and its extension into Congo’s mining heartland.

A second phase that would connect Lobito to Zambia via a new railway line is still in the planning stages, with Washington stating that construction is expected to begin in 2026. No completion date has been set as of yet.

Biden’s first and only journey to Africa as president ended with a conference in Lobito with the presidents of Angola, Congo, and Zambia, as well as the Tanzanian vice president.
Following their meeting, Biden and Felix Tshisekedi of Congo published a White House letter in which they reaffirmed their commitment to fostering peace and investment so that the central African country may capitalize on its enormous natural wealth.

Biden also met with his Zambian counterpart, Hakainde Hichilema, to talk about the Zambian side of the Lobito project, among other things.
“This corridor is of vital importance to opening up our countries, to opening up our regions, the continent, and truly the global economy,” added Hichilema. “This project is a huge opportunity for investment, for trade.”

“The presidents underscored their conviction,” according to a statement from the White House, “that countries should not be held back from investing in their development by the need to service unsustainably high debt and together committed to continue advocating for reform.”

With the approval of their portion of a $13.4 billion debt restructuring agreement by international bondholders in June, Zambia became the first country to fully restructure under the G20-led “Common Framework” framework.

The factor of China

A group of Western businesses won the Lobito Atlantic Railway concession in 2022, which has been portrayed as a victory against China as Washington grows more alarmed by China’s control over vital commodities, including as Congo’s enormous copper and cobalt riches.

In the project’s second phase, the Lobito corridor train will be extended via Zambia and connected to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, which is located on the Indian Ocean.

Although the U.S. has provided funding for feasibility studies for the second phase, others argue that it might give China an alternative eastward route, which would undermine the project as a whole from Washington’s point of view.

Some officials have questioned if U.S. backing for the eastern route will continue once Donald Trump takes office as president of the United States in January. Washington is anticipated to adopt a more assertive stance toward China.

According to two individuals who worked during the former Trump administration from 2017 to 21, Trump is expected to support at least some of the Lobito project and continue to be close to Angola when he returns to the White House.

The specifics of the project’s second phase’s development and financing are still up in the air.

Portuguese construction company Mota-Engil (MOTA.LS), international commodities trader Trafigura, and railway operator Vecturis are supporting the Lobito project. It has not yet been given a completion date.

On Tuesday, a top U.S. official stated without giving any other information that the Lobito project might be finished by the end of the decade.
Renovating the 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) rail network from Lobito to Congo has been made possible by a $550 million loan from the U.S. Development Finance Corporation.

This week, U.S. officials revealed new funding for the project’s first phase through the Development Finance Corporation, totaling $600 million for projects in the solar, mining, and telecommunication sectors.

Meeting with his Angolan colleague Joao Lourenco in Luanda on Tuesday, Biden promised long-term U.S. engagement with Africa on the continent’s own terms. Although Biden’s journey was only a few weeks before his presidency ended, it fulfilled his pledge to travel to Africa.

The United States’ influence in Africa has decreased during his tenure, despite his repeated promises to be “all in on Africa.” Washington has failed to disrupt China’s commercial dominance in minerals deemed vital to national security and has lost a military facility in the Sahel.

Although Angola has maintained strong ties with China and Russia for a long time, it has recently shifted its focus to the West. “It wants to increase its cooperation with the United States on military and security projects,” Lourenco stated during Biden’s visit on Tuesday.