TOKYO/BEIJING -- The United States and the European Union will offer assistance on the construction of an international railway in Africa to bring resources from mining areas to a port in a test of whether they can gain a foothold in Africa, where China has gained influence through its Belt and Road Initiative. It is also intended to strengthen supply chains for critical minerals, reducing the donors' dependence on China.
"This is a game-changing regional investment," U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sept. 9, when he announced the U.S. would support the development of the Lobito Corridor in partnership with the EU. The corridor aims to strengthen a distribution network that connects Angola's port of Lobito on the Atlantic coast to Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, inland countries that are rich in mineral resources.
