The United States is preparing to put up to $1 billion behind a 30-year concession to rehabilitate and operate a key railway in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
With this move, the Trump administration plans to strengthen Washington’s efforts to secure access to critical minerals and challenge China’s dominance of the supply chain.
Portugal’s largest construction company, Mota-Engil, is expected to sign the concession agreement to take control of the Congolese section of the Lobito Corridor, according to Bloomberg.
The roughly 1,000-kilometre railway links major mining centres including Kolwezi, Tenke and Lubumbashi with the wider Lobito Corridor, a strategic transport route designed to move copper and cobalt from Central Africa to global markets through Angola’s Atlantic coast.
The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) signed a letter of interest with Mota-Engil in December for financing of up to $1 billion to support the rehabilitation and operation of the Congolese railway.
