Historical Series

12 essays tracing the corridor's history from colonial extraction to modern reinvestment.

The Scramble for Katanga: How Belgium Seized the Copperbelt (1884–1908)
The colonial origins of Katanga's mining industry and the dispossession that created today's mineral economy. Building the Benguela Railway: Imperial Engineering (1902–1931)
How British capital and forced labour built the railway that the Lobito Corridor now rehabilitates. Union Minière: The Company That Ruled Katanga (1906–1967)
The corporate empire that established Katanga as a global mining centre and shaped its legacy. Congolese Independence and the Katanga Secession (1960–1963)
How mineral wealth drove Katanga's attempted secession and established the mineral curse pattern. Mobutu, Nationalisation, and the Decline of Gécamines (1967–1997)
Three decades of kleptocratic mining governance that devastated Katanga's productive capacity. Angola's Civil War and the Destruction of the Benguela Railway (1975–2002)
27 years of conflict that destroyed the original corridor and created the rehabilitation opportunity. Zambia's Copper Decline: From Independence to Privatisation (1964–2000)
How nationalisation, mismanagement, and structural adjustment devastated Zambia's mining industry. The Chinese Rehabilitation: $2 Billion and the Benguela Railway (2006–2014)
China's $2 billion railway rehabilitation and why Western investors now seek to build on Chinese work. Congo Wars and the Mineral Curse (1996–2003)
How mineral wealth fuelled two devastating wars and established the conflict minerals paradigm. The Cobalt Rush: How Smartphones Created a Commodity Boom (2010–2024)
The smartphone and EV revolution that transformed Katanga's cobalt from niche to strategic. Biden's Africa Pivot: From Promise to the Lobito Corridor (2021–2024)
How the Biden administration's Africa strategy produced the Lobito Corridor as flagship initiative. The LAR Concession: How a Swiss Trader Won Africa's Biggest Rail Deal (2022)
Inside the deal that gave a commodity trading consortium control of the corridor's railway operations.