Biden pledges £472m for rail project to improve access to Africa’s minerals
4 December 2024, 20:14
The US president made the promise on the third day of his trip to Angola.
President Joe Biden pledged another 600 million US dollars (£472 million) on Wednesday for an ambitious multi-country rail project in Africa as one of the final foreign policy moves of his administration.
Mr Biden told African leaders the resource-rich continent of more than 1.4 billion people had been “left behind for much too long”.
“But not anymore,” Mr Biden added. “Africa is the future.”
Mr Biden used the third and final day of a visit to Angola – his long-awaited, first trip to sub-Saharan Africa as president – to travel to the coastal city of Lobito and tour an Atlantic port terminal that’s part of the Lobito Corridor railway redevelopment.
Mr Biden described it as the largest US investment in a train project outside America. The US and allies are investing heavily in the project that will refurbish nearly 1,200 miles of train lines connecting to the mineral-rich areas of Congo and Zambia in central Africa.
The corridor, which likely will take years to complete, gives the US better access to cobalt, copper and other critical minerals in Congo and Zambia that are used in batteries for electric vehicles, electronic devices and clean energy technologies that Mr Biden said would power the future.
China is dominant in mining in Congo and Zambia. The US investment has strategic implications for US-China economic competition, which went up a notch this week as they traded blows over access to key materials and technologies.
The African leaders who met with Mr Biden on Wednesday said the railway corridor offered their countries a much faster route for minerals and goods – and a convenient outlet to Western markets.
“This is a project that is full of hope for our countries and our region,” said Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, whose country has more than 70% of the word’s cobalt.
“This is not just a logistical project. It is a driving force for economic and social transformation for millions of our people.”
The leaders said the corridor should spur private-sector investment and improve a myriad of related areas like roads, communication networks, agriculture and clean energy technologies.
For the African countries, it could create a wave of new jobs for a burgeoning young population.
Cargo that once took 45 days to get to the US – usually involving trucks via South Africa – would now take around 45 hours, Mr Biden said. He predicted the project could transform the region from a food importer to exporter.
It’s “something that if done right will outlast all of us and keep delivering for our people for generations to come,” he said.
The announcement of an additional $600 million took the U.S.’s investment in the Lobito Corridor to 4.0 billion dollars (£3.15 billion).
