Zambia is expanding the scope of a $491 million U.S.-backed agricultural grant programme to support infrastructure for its fast-growing critical minerals sector, underscoring the country's ambition to become a key player in global supply chains for energy transition metals.
The Zambian government announced that it had reached an agreement with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a U.S. development agency, to realign portions of the "farm-to-market" grant programme originally signed in 2024, according to Reuters.
While the initiative was initially designed to improve agricultural productivity and market access, part of the funding will now be directed toward infrastructure supporting the Lobito Corridor, one of Africa’s most strategically important transport projects.
The Lobito Corridor connects the mineral-rich regions of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to Angola’s Atlantic port of Lobito. Global commitments to the Lobito Corridor infrastructure project now exceed $6 billion.
The Lobito Corridor connects the mineral-rich regions of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to Angola’s Atlantic port of Lobito, and has attracted global commitments of over $6 billion.
