Critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium, and copper are essential to the global economy and defense industry, prompting major and middle powers to compete for secure and reliable access.
According to gisreportsonline.com, China in particular has grown its influence in these markets, controlling a significant portion of the world’s mining operations and refining capacities.
To counteract this dominance, African initiatives like the Lobito Atlantic Railway are being developed with backing from the United States and the European Union. These collaborations aim to enhance access to critical minerals and reduce reliance on Chinese-controlled supply chains.
Reviving the Benguela Railway
The Lobito Corridor revives the Benguela Railway, which was completed in 1928. It connected the Angolese city of Lobito, then the most important port on the Western coast of Africa, to Luau on the border of Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The project was launched and financed by Sir Robert Williams, a Scottish mining engineer with interests in Katanga and Northern Rhodesia.
For more than three decades, the Benguela railway was the cheapest and fastest way to export minerals from DRC and Zambia. However, the railway system was severely damaged during the post-independence civil war that broke out in 1975. Repairs began in 2006, following an agreement with China under the oil-for-infrastructure lending model, and were completed in 2014.
In 2022, during the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit, the U.S., DRC and Zambia announced a memorandum of understanding on electric vehicle battery value chains. The Lobito Atlantic Railway consortium, comprising the Portuguese construction group Mota-Engil, the Belgian railroad operator Vecturis and the French commodities supplier Trafigura, was awarded a 30-year concession to operate the Benguela railway and its mineral terminal.
