LobitoThe corridor is described as a strategic infrastructure project to streamline the export of minerals from Africa. With support from the US and the EU, the initiative is seen as a step towards increased trade – but at the same time raises concerns about unsustainable working conditions and continued foreign dominance over the continent's natural resources.
With about 30 percent of the world's known mineral reserves, Africa plays a key role in the global raw materials economy. In line with the green transition, demand on cobalt, among other things, has increased, making the continent's resources strategically crucial, and the need for fast transport routes increasingly urgent. It is here that The Lobito Corridor comes in – the infrastructure project that will streamline the transport of Africa's minerals to the global market.
With support from the US and the EU, over 200 km of railway be upgraded and to connect mining regions in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia with the Atlantic coast of Angola. The existing railway is currently outdated and does not even meet today's transport requirements. The hope is that the bet will change trade flows in southern Africa, secure the West's access to critical raw materials while reducing dependence on Chinese supply chains.
Behind the billion-dollar promise – political agreements and uncertain financing
On G20 Summit in India 2023 the Lobito Corridor was highlighted as a key initiative within the G7's global infrastructure initiative. Shortly thereafter the cooperation was formalized through an agreement between the EU, the US, Angola, the DRC, Zambia and African financial institutions. The project is part of the EU's investment strategy global gateway, which will finance infrastructure, energy, health, education and research in partner countries.
– The new partnerships with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia will support the development of sustainable and resilient value chains for critical raw materials, while creating high-quality local jobs, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in connection with the signing of the Lobito Corridor Agreement in Brussels in October 2023.
Criticism of human rights violations and environmental risks
Mineral extraction in the DRC and Zambia has long been associated with exploitation, pollution and serious human rights violationsIn the DRC, mines in southeastern provinces such as Haut-katanga and Lualaba criticized for dangerous working conditions, child labor, and toxic emissions that affect both people and the environment.
In Zambia, where copper accounts for over 70 percent of the country's export revenues, a report from Human Rights Watch 2011 due to long working hours, poor safety and fatal accidents. Since then, several other serious accidents have occurred, including a fire underground 2019 which claimed three lives and a landslide in 2023, which claimed over 30 lives.
Despite the EU and the US highlighting the Lobito Corridor as a sustainable project, critic that it does not address the human rights and environmental problems that characterise the region's mines. Instead, they warn that the development of the corridor could reinforce a system in which Africa's raw materials are exported quickly, without contributing to local development. In an article in The Pan African Review comments Nigeria-based journalist and author David Hundeyin:
– With only five stops along its 130-mile route [between the DRC mining town of Kolowezi and Lobito] The obvious aim is to transport Congolese minerals from the mine to the port as quickly as possible, and with as little contact with the local population as possible.
The project divides opinion. Proponents highlight the opportunity for increased trade and economic growth in the region. Critics, however, warn that the investment will primarily favors foreign actors and risks reinforcing an exploitative structure where the local population is left out. They believe that increased export volumes could drive environmental destruction and lead to more human rights violations, despite the project being financed with public EU funds.
This strategy entrenches a model of exploitation in which Africa continues to develop Europe, while people in the global South suffer more than they benefit from their own resources, write Elie Dumas and Alexandra Gerasimcikova in an article published by Counter Balance, a European organization that reviews public investments and works for sustainable and fair financing.
USAID cuts threaten funding
During a meeting with Angolan President João Lourenço, then-US President Joe Biden assured that the US is “fully committed to Africa”The statement came at a time when the investment in the Lobito corridor was being highlighted as an example of deepened cooperation between the West and Africa.
But just over a year and a half later, the US commitment is uncertain. Since Donald Trump took office, the aid agency has USAID has been forced to cut back large parts of its operations and even support through the State Department has been reduced or paused. Although the project's goals are in line with Trump's ambition to use US aid to secure access to strategic minerals, there is uncertainty about the extent to which the administration will fulfill previous promises. There is also speculation that any cuts could delay the start of construction of the corridor.
Critics, meanwhile, question the US's motives behind the initiative. According to US-based journalist Joshua Frank, who writes in the American progressive magazine The Nation, the statement reveals a growing Western interest in Africa's natural resources rather than a real ambition for an equal partnership.
– Of course, this is exactly the kind of rhetoric we can expect when Western (or Chinese) interests are focused on acquiring resources from the global south, he writes.