PREVIEW
Brussels claims rail investment will help secure critical minerals and boost African producers
South Africa and the countries involved in the Angola–Congo-Kinshasa Lobito Corridor project were the main beneficiaries from the two-day Global Gateway Forum in Brussels last week.
Pretoria secured commitments of €11.5 billion in its green energy, transport and health sectors via the European Union’s Global Gateway, an infrastructure investment programme that aims to deliver up to €400bn.
Since a bilateral spring summit in South Africa, the EU has promised new energy investment and the prospect of better trade terms to Cyril Ramaphosa’s government (AC Vol 66 No 6, Targeted by Trump – Africa and Europe draw closer).
Meanwhile, the Lobito Corridor rail network was cited by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on 9 October as ‘one of the most ambitious’ initiatives so far of the programme.
The commission wants to use the Lobito project, which it is co-financing with the United States, to increase its supply of critical minerals. Washington and Brussels have so far committed over US$5bn to the rail network, which they say will also connect agriculture markets in Central and West Africa (AC Vol 66 No 2, America first but Africa where?).
Officials in Brussels say that more funding announcements relating to Lobito are likely during an EU-African Union summit in Luanda, Angola’s capital, in November.
‘It is about the critical raw materials that are so vital for our strategic industries. Not just for Europe’s needs – but with local processing and added value,’ said von der Leyen in her speech at the forum’s launch.
Brussels hopes local processing would offset China’s dominance of mineral refining, as well as give African producers the prospect of keeping a greater share of the value. That would counter African fears that the Lobito project is another means of extracting raw minerals out of the continent for value to be added elsewhere.
Congo-Kinshasa's government, one of the main potential beneficiaries from Lobito, is also hoping that the Global Gateway will lead to investment in a ‘green corridor’ to connect rural areas with the capital Kinshasa.
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