The United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has approved a major loan to support the refurbishment of a key railway corridor in Angola, aimed at boosting the transport of strategic minerals vital to US industries.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the DFC said the rail line stretches from the Atlantic port of Lobito to Luau, near Angola’s border with the mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The project will receive a combined investment of $753 million, with the DFC contributing $553 million and the Development Bank of Southern Africa providing an additional $200 million. Once completed, the upgraded rail link is expected to increase Lobito port’s transport capacity tenfold to 4.6 million metric tonnes and cut the cost of moving critical minerals by up to 30 percent.
A significant portion of the funding will be used to rehabilitate about 1,300 kilometres of railway tracks and procure new locomotives to improve efficiency and reliability.
According to the DFC, Central Africa holds vast reserves of minerals essential for technology and defence industries in the United States. The corporation said the investment is designed to strengthen supply chains while limiting over-reliance on strategic competitors.
The revitalised Lobito Corridor is also expected to dramatically shorten transit times for minerals from the DRC and Zambia to the Atlantic coast, reducing the journey to about 40–50 hours, compared to up to 45 days by road transport.
