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Diplomat: US will continue to fund Angola's Lobito railway corridor despite cuts in spending

A U.S. Diplomat said that despite the aggressive spending cuts of President Donald Trump, the United States is committed to funding the Lobito Rail Corridor, which will help transport vital minerals from central Africa's copperbelt into the West.

The U.S., through the International Development Finance Corporation (IDFC), set up in Trump's first year in office, has pledged $550 million in loan support for Lobito. Lobito is seen as a key component in countering Chinese control of copper and cobalt in the region.

Trump's cuts in spending had caused concern for projects like Lobito, which plans to go to Angola and Zambia as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo. The U.S. James Story, the ambassador to Angola on Wednesday, tried to calm fears.

Lobito Atlantic Railways executives, European diplomats and Angolan officials accompanied Story on a project tour in Angola.

Story replied: "Not for the time being." When asked if the funding of the Lobito Corridor was in danger, Story responded: We are working on all the projects we have with DFC, Exim Bank and the DFC.

Story stated that "we're not moving away from the project as some organisations claim."

Angola awarded a 30-year concession for the Lobito corridor to a joint venture led by Trafigura and Mota-Engil, a construction giant, as well as independent rail operator Vecturis SA, in 2022.

The first phase of this venture involves refurbishing a 1,300 km railway in Angola, and extending it to the mining heartland of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This will facilitate the export of copper and cobalt along the Atlantic coast.

The second phase, currently under feasibility studies, would connect Zambia - Africa’s second largest producer of copper after the DRC.

Francisco Franca, CEO of Lobito Atlantic Railways, who took part in the tour, stated that DFC financing contracts are "currently at the final stage".

Franca stated that "in two to three months, we will have contracts signed. Then the international financing procedure will follow."

Rosario Bento said that the Western governments, including the U.S., remain committed to the Lobito Corridor project.

She said, "The United States is interested in the region. They are already receiving raw materials through the Lobito Corridor." "I do not see the United States as being disinterested by something that they already benefit from," she said. Reporting by Miguel Gomes, Writing by Nelson Banya, Editing by Olivia Kumwenda Mtambo and Andrew Heavens

(source: Reuters)