The Lobito Corridor and Africa’s Battery Making Opportunities

The Lobito Corridor, which traverses 1300 kilometres east through Angola from the Atlantic Ocean coast to the border with the Demcratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and within easy reach of the Zambian border, is fast becoming an important trade route for critical raw materials(CRMs). The Lobito Corridor is attracting attention from a series of competing interests– China, Europe and the USA.

Yet their interests do not necessarily dovetail. The Chinese strategy, implemented through the country’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has developed a virtual monopoly position  in copper-cobalt mining interests in the DRC and Zambia.

Europe and the United States are playing catch-up and have signed various agreements to ensure transparency, good governance, sustainable development and local content. All lovely agreements for the political folks back home but finding little traction within Angola-DRC- Zambia.

This is a story of China’s economic power-play, which has spanned decades and is being carried out on a global scale, unfathomable to western policy-makers. The Chinese are playing a long-game in which Chinese economic interests are displayed; and if per chance the local African economies can benefit from the Chinese game-plan this is seen as an additional bonus. But this story is also an important chapter in the energy transition. Understanding where copper-cobalt comes from you can begin to understand that such critical raw materials play a pivotal role in the electric batteries that drive our electrical vehicles.

To date through its BRI programme 150 countries have participated and since 2013 China has spent $1.4Trillion on construction and investment projects around the globe. What the Chinese in this period of time have invested is almost equal to what the World Bank has invested since its inception in 1944: nearly $1.5Trillion in developing nations and post-war reconstruction efforts deployed as grants, loans, and credits to fund critical infrastructure, education, and poverty reduction projects worldwide. In short BRI is China’s counter position to what the World Bank and regional development banks symbolize.

What is the Chinese Game Plan? 

The China Belt and Road Initiative Investment Report 2025, authored by Christoph Nedopil Wang, provides an excellent summary of what the Chinese have carried out to date and an indication of what the future will entail. Nedopil Wang is the Founding Director of the Green Finance & Development Center and a Visiting Professor at the Fanhai International School of Finance (FISF) at Fudan University in Shanghai, China. He is also a Professor at The University of Queensland and the lead for Asia Pacific Industry Transitions.

China’s copper value chain in the DRC involves specific constraints and activities; Chinese companies control over 70% of the copper-cobalt mines and output in the DRC. They rely heavily on modern extraction methods to yield high-grade copper cathodes in country.

The vast majority of Congolese copper—both concentrate and cathodes—is exported directly to China to manufacture green energy technologies, electronics, and infrastructure. The DRC lacks the domestic downstream manufacturing to fully close the loop locally. In the DRC, copper is simply extracted and smelted into raw materials to feed China’s domestic manufacturing and circular economy.

A true “total life cycle” process which includes closing the loop through product manufacturing, consumer use, and domestic recycling is simply a bridge too far for the DRC.

China’s production of copper and cobalt is only one example of China’s Belt and Road Initiative(BRI), China’s investment vehicle.

Key findings:

• In 2025 Africa topped the list reaching US$61.2 billion with Republic of Congo receiving $23.1 billion.
• 2025 saw the highest BRI engagement ever for any year, with $128.4Billion in construction contracts and about $85.2Billion in investments;
• Metals and mining sector reached new records with about $32.6Billion;
• Copper, in support of data centers saw a significant surge of Chinese investment in 2025.

Preliminary data on Chinese engagement in the 150 countries of the Belt and Road Initiative through investments and construction contracts show record levels:

• $128.4Billion (+81% compared to 2024) in construction contracts
• $85.2Billion (+62% compared to 2024) in investment

This equals to a total engagement of $213.5Billion through construction contracts and investments in about 350 deals in 2025 (+19% in deal numbers compared to 2024).

Cumulatively, Chinese BRI engagement has reached $1.4Trillion since 2013 of which $837Billion in construction and $561Billion in investments (see Figure 1 below).

Figure 1 : China’s BRI engagement by sector since 2013(left) and cumulative(right)

Source: China Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Investment Report 2025

Current Status of the Lobito Corridor

In a timely study entitled The Lobito Corridor: A frontier for transition mineral partnerships in Africa, published by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in May 2026, a plea is made for how the Corridor could serve multiple purposes to catalyse investments across a number of sectors– logistics, energy, agriculture and industrial services—and “… lower the cost of importing fertilisers, chemicals and agricultural inputs into producer countries, reinforcing the Corridor’s relevance to broader economic development.” 

According to the report, the full financial investment will require $6-8Billion: combining rail rehabilitation, upgrades and the greenfield Zambia link. To date only 15-25% in financing has been publicly announced or committed by donors, development finance institutions and concessionaires, mainly on the Angolan leg and initial works in the DRC.

Then there is the matter of how the value chain can be extended: positioning the region within global battery and EV value chains. The report acknowledges that…”developing EV value chains in Central Africa is complex and will require coordinated regional action”.

The report continues …“The DRC and Zambia have strengthened cooperation through the DRC–Zambia Bilateral Cooperation Agreement on the Battery and Clean Energy Value Chain, which established a joint Battery Council to support regulatory alignment, identify pilot projects and guide infrastructure development, including special economic zones. The Battery Council is supported by Afreximbank, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms, and a pre-feasibility study led by ARISE has been completed, with a full feasibility assessment now under way”…

A Bloomberg NEF study investigated the feasibility of establishing special economic zones for manufacturing battery precursors in the DRC and Zambia: costing $2.7 Billion. Such a facility in the DRC would be three times cheaper than it would cost to building a similar plant in the USA because of cost competitiveness and proximity to raw materials.

Boosting Local Content

EITI argues  that ”near-term progress is most realistic in simple fabrication activities such as copper rods, wiring and low-voltage cables that serve regional construction and electrification markets”.  The agency says “these segments are less technology-intensive, offer meaningful job creation, and can strengthen industrial capabilities if supported through targeted fiscal incentives, improved credit access and workforce-development programmes.”

According to the report though,   the number of firms able to produce entry-level copper rods or wiring across Southern and Central Africa for basic electrical products is limited.

EITI also expresses the hope that domestic smelting and refining capacity can be expanded, particularly as both the DRC and Zambia continue to export significant volumes at intermediate processing stages.

Some Final Remarks

Multilateral clamour–mostly from the developed world—that the Lobito Corridor must ensure transparency, good governance, sustainable development and local content are well-intended sound bites, but have little to do with political reality.

Instead look in the direction of China and think again about the 150 countries which are engaged with China’s BRI investment programme. China is where the power and strategy for  the Lobito Corridor will be ultimately decided. With its massive global investments—US$1.4 trillion in the period 2013-2025, China is demonstrating where the real power is.

Of course, the Chinese will listen to reasonable demands to make the Lobito Corridor a corridor that will help spur regional development and growth in the region. The caveat being dependent on how much  financing the industrial countries are prepared to undertake and help underwrite Chinese interests.  Money has never been the problem…but the piper playing the tune will ultimately decide the scope, speed and direction of how the Lobito Corridor will be further developed. The Lobito Corridor is one example of China’s growing imperial power.

Gerard Kreeft, BA (Calvin University, Grand Rapids, USA) and MA (Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada), Energy Transition Adviser, was founder and owner of EnergyWise.  He has managed and implemented energy conferences, seminars and university master classes in Alaska, Angola, Brazil, Canada, India, Libya, Kazakhstan, Russia and throughout Europe.  Kreeft has Dutch and Canadian citizenship and resides in the Netherlands.  He writes on a regular basis for Africa Oil + Gas Report, and guest contributor to IEEFA(Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis). His book ‘The 10 Commandments of the Energy Transition ‘is on sale at https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000211674846/Gerard-Kreeft-The-10-Commandments-of-the-Energy-Transition