The DRC and Angola have signed a new US-backed agreement on the Lobito Corridor, aiming to cut copper and cobalt transit times from roughly 30 days to a week or less as Washington competes with Chinese-backed routes.
Lobito Atlantic Railway has resumed carrying Congolese copper after floods in Angola's Benguela province cut the line in April 2026, restoring a key mineral export route to the Atlantic.
Flooding in western Angola suspended rail traffic on the Lobito Corridor, disrupting a key export route for copper and cobalt from the DRC to the Atlantic port of Lobito.
The US International Development Finance Corporation signed a $553m loan on 17 December 2025 as part of a $753m package, with the Development Bank of Southern Africa, to rehabilitate Angola's Benguela railway and Lobito port for Copperbelt exports.
Wholesale lab-grown diamond prices have crashed as much as 96% since 2018, prompting Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and the DRC to fund a joint marketing push for natural stones.
Angola is targeting 17.5 million carats of annual diamond output by 2027, banking on its giant new Luele mine to challenge for a place among the world's top producers.
