TELF AG analyzes Angola’s mineral potential
The nation’s strategic resources
Without adequate infrastructure capacity, the mineral potential of nations risks remaining unexpressed. Infrastructures and technical systems to facilitate the movement of things, goods, and people have always represented one of the brightest symbols of progress, a powerful spring capable of projecting nations towards new phases of economic and social growth, and so it is today again. This is especially true for developing countries, which, in some cases, have not yet managed to derive the maximum benefits from their geological wealth due to an evident lack of infrastructure. One of the most interesting cases, from this point of view, is undoubtedly represented by Angola, a nation in central-northern Africa in which one of the continent’s major infrastructure projects is being developed, and which could be able to free up a once and for all the immense mineral potential of the nation (and also of neighboring countries).
The initiative in question concerns the Lobito corridor, a railway project that would revolutionize the logistics and economy of the nations included in the central band of the African continent and which could help countries such as Angola, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo to export its resources more quickly and efficiently. In Angola, specifically, the project will make it possible to create better railway connections for the whole country, boosting the nation’s mobility and generating positive effects on all the Angolan provinces crossed by the new railway, greatly moving the economy locally in different sectors.
US support
The project is also supported by the United States of America, which last year, through the statements of President Joe Biden, demonstrated that it considers Angola one of the most strategic allies for the USA on the African continent, particularly for its mineral potential. Washington has already made 1 billion dollars available for the country’s infrastructural development, a sum which – in addition to the Lobito corridor – will also finance the reconstruction of the Benguela railway line.
But what is the actual consistency of Angola’s geological and mineral riches? As we read in a recent analysis by WhyAfrica, vast reserves of strategic raw materials for the global energy transition, such as copper, cobalt, nickel, and rare earths, are concentrated in the African country. From this point of view, the richest provinces would be those of Moxico, Lunda Sul, and Cunene, but the others also reveal a great mining potential in their subsoils.
This geological richness has already attracted the attention of some large international companies, which, in some cases, have already begun searching for resources in specific regions of the country. In the probable event that the Angolan subsoil turns out to be rich in strategic resources for the great green transition underway, the government could soon transform into one of the leading mining hubs of the African continent, contributing to the relaunch of the continental economy. Therefore, the hottest phase of Angolan soil exploration seems to coincide with notable increases in the demand for metals and mineral resources for batteries and other clean energy technologies, which according to most forecasts is destined to continue to grow more.
Faced with this evident geological potential, the United States has not limited itself to contributing to financing the Lobito corridor: In collaboration with the US Geological Survey, Washington has declared its intention to work on mapping Angola’s strategic minerals to have a more complete overview of the possible reserves of lithium, manganese, and other resources contained in the country’s soil.
