[Opinion] Is the Lobito Corridor a risky investment for US-Africa relations going forward?
Sign up for [The Weekend Brief] newsletter by Areas & Producers
Recently I focused alot of my attention on China. For instance, I wrote about why everyone should be focused on China’s relations with the world after the 2024 Taiwan elections and other current affairs this year.
Last week I wanted to focus on Ukraine, and particularly since one of my favorite Medium writers wrote a very engaging piece about President Zelensky’s decision to change the dual-nationality legislation during the Unity Day celebration in Ukraine this week.
For this week I want to cover an article by one of the writers from Geopolitical Futures, Ronan Wordsworth. Wordsworth’s article about the current circumstances of US-Africa diplomatic engagement is insightful and a little controversial. Have a look at it here.
Now, here are my thoughts about the article.
“To contain Soviet influence and communist ideology, the U.S. formed partnerships and provided financial and security aid to friendly African governments as well as groups opposed to pro-Soviet regimes. When the Cold War ended, Africa tumbled down the list of U.S. foreign policy priorities.”
Ah, this was the US containment strategy at its finest. Formed as the main strategy for the US government after World War Two, this containment strategy set the course for US engagement with other countries under the backdrop of the Cold War era. It is also likely that this strategy of containment has been carried over to today’s International Relations, in the same way that people often describe post-colonialism, or neo-colonialist ties between Europe and Africa. But I would offer that it is not solely the US who is practicing a containment strategy, since the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is basically carrying out its own version of containment by bolstering its military presence in the South China Sea — i.e. to contain its economic imperatives by coercing Southeast Asian countries through political leverage. In other words, we should completely rethink what “containment” means in the context of today’s International Relations.
“Initially through the mercenary Wagner Group, Russian forces spread in and around the Sahel — in Mali, Burkina Faso, Libya, the Central African Republic and Sudan — and entrenched themselves in the national security infrastructure (not to mention lucrative mining concerns).”
As far as I can remember this is when we first learned about the presence and existence of Russian private security group, called the Wagner Group, which has been the initiator of several domestic conflicts and political transitions throughout Africa — particularly in the Sahel region. The Sahel region provides a security buffer between Europe’s interests in North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. It’s no wonder that Russia decided to push so hard into this region with a focus on defense and security imperatives. Whatever is in Europe’s defense and security interests, inevitably goes against the same interests of the Russian Federation, thanks to NATO.
“Outlined during the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit in 2022, the first major change was a U.S. commitment to invest $55 billion in the continent over the next three years. In year one, the U.S. and Africa signed hundreds of deals worth at least $14.2 billion. These included U.S. investments in minor infrastructure projects, local industrial development and green energy projects. Washington also established Prosper Africa, an initiative that connects U.S. and African businesses to facilitate trade and investment.”
Anyone who is interested in the topic of US-Africa relations should go back and look up some reading materials about the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in 2022. I watched it, as it was streaming live online, while I was staying and working on an independent research project in Morocco. One of Morocco’s key government leaders was also an important part of the event, along with Kenya’s President William William Ruto who famously called out John Deere as a “good tractor for Africa”. I remember his quote so well, because I already understand the critical aspects of US agriculture equipment in the African market as a key source of combatting food insecurity and developing Africa’s agriculture production. I would add that the latter is an awesome driver of the US soft power dimension from North to East African areas (Morocco-Kenya). While Russia clearly intends to expand its hard power interests deeper in the Sahel and other areas, such as Burkina Faso.
“But now the U.S., through the G7’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment fund, is trying to catch up. The headline project, the Lobito Corridor, involves building a railway connection between the mineral-rich regions of the southern Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia’s copper belt and Angola. A memorandum of understanding was signed in October, and the African Development Bank promised to help raise $1.6 billion in financing, in addition to contributing $500 million itself.”
You can read more about the Lobito Corridor and the key players in the publication Areas & Producers. Although Wordsworth calls it a “headline project” I would refer to it more as a risky investment for the US-Africa relations going forward. The global mining industry is particularly focused on the politics and economics of African countries. Zambia and DRC are two of the world’s largest producers of copper. What this new DRC-Angola railway intends to do is show the world how important the strategic minerals of Africa have become to the global markets. For the DRC and Angola to come to such an agreement, as establishing a vital railway link between the two countries from mine to port, just goes to show how mining projects are changing the dynamics of politics in the Sub-Saharan Africa region.
Read the full story: “The US Re-Engages With Africa”.
If you like my opinion on current affairs, check out some of the previous opinions I wrote for [The Weekend Brief] newsletter: