Citing people close to the process, Bloomberg writes that "government officials and project promoters fear the Lobito Corridor could be affected, along with other initiatives, as funding for studies and technical services and payments are frozen under the suspension of foreign aid" from the US.
The project, which encompasses Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo), in addition to Zambia, is one of the main African infrastructure projects that have received promises of financing and technical services from the United States' International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), in conjunction with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
DFC “will faithfully comply with all executive orders and remains committed to advancing development finance initiatives that align with U.S. foreign policy and the Trump administration’s national security objectives,” the agency said in response to questions from Bloomberg, in which it declined to confirm whether the planned funding would continue.
Created during Trump's first presidency, the DFC aimed to combat China's influence, particularly in Africa, and last year approved a 553 million dollar loan for the Lobito Corridor, a rail corridor primarily intended to transport minerals from the DR Congo and Zambia to the port of Lobito.
USAID, for its part, has already provided 250,000 dollars for studies on financing models for the renovation of the railway line, and had requested another 5 million dollars to update a feasibility study, but "all funds from the US are blocked indefinitely," said an official quoted by Bloomberg.
But analyst Thomas Scurfield of the Institute for Natural Resource Management said Trump's approach was "a bit of a guessing game," noting that "if the U.S. pulls back from efforts to support African ambitions, it is not obvious that African countries will choose U.S. interests over those of other more financially powerful and trustworthy countries like China or new players like Saudi Arabia."
Following the visit to Angola by former US President Joe Biden at the end of last year, Trafigura, the leader of the consortium awarded the design of the Lobito Corridor, continues to expect to receive the first tranche of US funding in March.
For Zambia's Transport Minister, Frank Tayali, the project helps defend US interests, but warns that the Americans "should not create a vacuum that others will want to fill", referring to the interests of China and Middle Eastern countries.
This month, Francisco Franca, president of Lobito Atlantic Railway, concessionaire of the Lobito Corridor, said that financing contracts to develop the infrastructure will be signed in the “coming months”, highlighting that, so far, the investments have been made by the shareholders.
The Lobito Atlantic Railway consortium, formed by Trafigura, Mota-Engil and Vecturis, obtained, in 2022, the concession to operate and manage the Lobito Corridor for 30 years, which includes the Lobito mineral terminal and the Benguela railway, which crosses Angola for more than 1,300 kilometers, to the DRCongo.
At issue are loans worth 748 million dollars, of which 553 million will come from the North American entity DFC and 195 million dollars from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), in addition to the 187 million invested by shareholders representing around 20 percent of the costs of the project, also financed by the European Union.
