Washington is preparing to put up to $1 billion behind the rehabilitation and operation of a major railway in the Democratic Republic of Congo, adding a new infrastructure component to its efforts to secure critical-mineral supply chains and reduce China’s influence over the sector.
Portugal’s Mota-Engil is expected to take control of the Congolese section of the Lobito Corridor under a long-term concession agreement, according to Bloomberg. The approximately 1,000-kilometer railway runs through major mining centers such as Kolwezi, Tenke, and Lubumbashi and connects them to the wider corridor leading to Angola’s Atlantic coast. The route is designed to facilitate shipments of copper and cobalt from Central Africa to international markets.
The U.S. financing would come through the International Development Finance Corporation. In December, the DFC signed a letter of interest with Mota-Engil for financing of up to $1 billion for the railway’s rehabilitation and operation. The commitment is part of a broader U.S. effort to strengthen economic and mineral ties with Kinshasa and develop alternatives to supply chains heavily linked to China.
Mota-Engil already has experience on the corridor. Through a joint venture with commodities trader Trafigura, the Portuguese construction group operates part of the Lobito Corridor in Angola. Taking on the Congolese section would give the company a longer-term role across a larger portion of the route connecting Central Africa’s mining regions with the Atlantic port of Lobito.
The strategic stakes are high. The DRC is the world’s second-largest copper producer and leading cobalt producer, with both minerals playing a major role in electric vehicles, renewable energy infrastructure, and other advanced technologies. Chinese companies, meanwhile, hold a strong position in the country’s mining industry and account for a significant share of copper and cobalt production and processing.
The Lobito railway is emerging alongside a competing transport route backed by Beijing. China is supporting a $1.4 billion modernization of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway, or TAZARA, which links Zambia’s Copperbelt with the Indian Ocean port of Dar es Salaam. Together, the two projects illustrate how railways, ports, and trade corridors are becoming increasingly important in the competition over access to Africa’s critical minerals.
For Washington, improving the route to the Atlantic is therefore about more than transport. It is also part of a broader effort to diversify Western supply chains, while the DRC gains another potential channel for moving its copper and cobalt to global markets.
