Angola has found itself at the center of a geopolitical tug-of-war over a railway project that connects its Atlantic coast to the mineral-rich interior of the DRC and Zambia.
Washington has finalized a $753 million loan alongside the Development Bank of Southern Africa to fund upgrades to the Lobito Corridor — one of the most strategically significant infrastructure projects on the continent.
The framing has shifted under Trump. Where Biden sold the corridor as a climate project, the current US administration is pushing it as a tool to counter China and secure American access to critical minerals.
Brussels is not standing aside and don’t wait. The EU's Global Gateway programme is funding renewable energy, digital and water infrastructures along the same corridor, with total European commitments running up to €150 billion across the Africa.
Chinese, American and European officials have all made their way to Luanda in recent months, each with financing offers and a strategic interest in Angola's minerals and its Atlantic port.
Angola, for its part, is playing the field carefully. Luanda requires export licences to be tied to local processing or joint-venture investment — a policy designed to ensure the country keeps more of the value from its own resources.
