Zambia, US expand use of $491m grant programme to critical metals infrastructure
LUSAKA – Zambia said on Thursday it had agreed with US agency Millennium Challenge Corporation to expand the use of a $491-million agriculture grant programme to support key critical minerals infrastructure.
The "farm-to-market" grant, signed in 2024, was originally aimed at boosting agricultural development in Africa's second-largest copper producing country.
"The realignment will support both Zambia's agricultural and critical minerals economy in the Lobito Corridor - a key economic corridor for Zambia," Zambia's finance ministry said in a statement.
The Lobito Corridor is centred on a rail link between the continent's top copper and cobalt producer, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Angola's Atlantic port of Lobito.
The route is seen as strategic for exporting critical minerals to Western markets seeking to counter China's dominance in metals vital for the energy transition.
Zambia aims to link its copperbelt to the corridor. Lead project developer, the African Finance Corporation, has said it is targeting financial close in the fourth quarter of 2027.
Some of the grant funding will be redirected to infrastructure tied to the project, the ministry said.
"Priority road segments identified for rehabilitation have been aligned with the Lobito Corridor in the North-Western and Copperbelt Provinces — one of Africa’s most significant emerging trade and logistics Corridors," it added.
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