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The region is rich in cobalt, copper, and other critical minerals used in batteries for electric vehicles, electronic devices, and clean energy technologies. In the future, the corridor could be extended to include even South Africa, by linking eastern and southern Africa.
President Joe Biden on his visit to sub-Saharan Africa pledged another USD 600 million for a cross-continent rail corridor project. He added that Africa has been left behind for much too long; but not anymore, while describing the continent as the future of the world economy.
Biden used his visit to Angola to showcase the Lobito Corridor railway, where the U.S. and its allies are investing heavily to refurbish 800 miles (1,300 kilometres) of train lines in Zambia, Congo, and Angola. The Lobito Corridor constituted the largest U.S. investment in a train project outside the country.
The region is rich in cobalt, copper, and other critical minerals used in batteries for electric vehicles, electronic devices, and clean energy technologies. In the future, the corridor could be extended to include even South Africa, by linking eastern and southern Africa.
Referring to the transformational effect of building the transcontinental railroad in the United States, Biden said that Cargo that once took 45 days to get to the United States, usually involving trucks to South Africa, would now take less than 45 hours. He also predicted that the Lobito corridor could transform the region from a food importer to an exporter.
Biden said the U.S. has invested USD 4 billion along the Lobito Corridor. Presidents of Angola, Congo, and Zambia joined him in his tour Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi said the project could create tens of millions of jobs in his country. Angola’s President João Lourenço explained how the project could benefit the region.
Analysts opine that the corridor, which may take years to complete, may have to get the clearance of the Trump Administration, which in its previous rule had adopted a step-motherly approach to Africa’s development plan.
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The Lobito Corridor has become a model approach that the U.S. is looking to replicate in other parts of the world, said the official, who briefed reporters during Biden’s Angola visit on condition of anonymity to offer project details that haven’t yet been made public.
The corridor won’t be completed for years, meaning much of the work would come during the administration of Donald Trump, who takes office on January 20. The Biden White House says Republicans in Congress have supported past efforts to promote African business interests through targeted investments and that such initiatives have appealed to Trump and his key advisers in the past.
