Luanda — The United States of America (USA) has already mobilized six billion dollars in investments for the Lobito Corridor and aims to accelerate its leadership in this strategic logistics infrastructure for the development of Angola and Southern Africa.
This information was provided this Saturday by the Portuguese-language spokesperson for the US State Department, Amanda Roberson, highlighting that her country has shifted the focus of aid to trade in Africa, prioritizing the promotion of private investment for sustainable growth.
In an interview given to ANGOP via email, the source said that the US aims, in short, to increase exports and investments in Africa to boost mutual prosperity and take advantage of abundant natural resources and latent economic potential to secure supply chains. "Instead of simply extracting resources, we are working with partners to build secure, transparent, and commercially viable supply chains that benefit both economies", she argued.
She detailed that U.S. investments in the Corridor, based on rail infrastructure, digital connectivity, and energy, are allowing the United States to lead the way in building strategic infrastructure that benefits businesses, workers, and security.
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These investments, she went on to explain, are not about traditional foreign aid, but in the form of loans, much of which comes from the U.S.
International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the Exim Bank, and will be repaid to American taxpayers.
"The DFC and the Exim Bank work with the private sector and cannot engage in anti-economic transactions".
Therefore, it is essential that our African partners proactively reduce project risk through real reforms", Amanda Roberson noted.
The official stated that the US government continues to support the development of the Lobito Corridor, aware that this initiative will underpin an essential trade route connecting the mineral-rich regions of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to American and Western markets.
Amanda Roberson considered the Lobito Corridor an example of the results produced by the trade diplomacy strategy that President Trump's administration is implementing in Africa. She said that Africa will be the next "great commercial opportunity in the world," based on the fact that nine of the 20 fastest-growing economies are located on the continent.
According to the interviewee, this is coupled with the projection that one in four people on the planet will live in Africa by 2050, representing 2.5 billion consumers with a purchasing power exceeding $16 billion.
She emphasized that meeting this demand will require massive investments in energy generation, infrastructure, and supply chains, hence the increase in US investments in Africa.
Investments outside the Lobito Corridor
Amanda Roberson informed that the US government has a commercial diplomacy strategy to implement, which involves boosting infrastructure projects to stimulate investment in Angola, in particular, and in Africa in general.
She cited as an example the $170 million investment agreement formalized between the US technology company Cybastion and Angola Telecom, aimed at expanding digital infrastructure and cybersecurity through Cybastion's "Digital Fast Track" initiative.
This instrument consists of guaranteeing local training and modern infrastructure for Angola's digital transformation. She also disclosed that, since the beginning of the current Administration, there has been direct work between the embassies of Angola and the United States of America to support more than 60 different agreements, worth more than 25 billion dollars.
Alongside the Lobito Corridor, the spokesperson highlighted cooperation between Angola and the US in other areas, particularly health.
In this area, she spoke of the signing, on March 9th of this year, of a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding, lasting five years, focused on the continuity of the Trump Administration's "America First" Global Health Strategy in Africa.
She stressed that bilateral cooperation in health matters, worth 121 million dollars, will boost shared priorities in the health sector and strengthen Angola's path towards health independence.
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The agreement promotes the integration of the private sector, leveraging American and Angolan companies to strengthen health systems
in human resources, data management, and supply chains, the source added.
Support for peace on the Continent
Focusing on the conflict in the Great Lakes region, Amanda Roberson highlighted that the agreements signed in 2025 in Washington - witnessed by the Angolan President, João Lourenço, then acting as President of the African Union - represents a decisive turning point for the region. She stressed that this pact establishes a new course for peace, cooperation and prosperity among neighboring countries.
He specified that the United States maintains its firm support for peace and stability in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and throughout the continent. "As President Trump has made clear, the U.S. is prepared to use all available tools to ensure that the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda fulfill the promises of this historic agreement", she concluded. ACC/CS/TED/jmc
