The U.S. Trade and Development Agency has signed an agreement with Anzana Electric Group Limited to fund a feasibility study for hydropower and electricity-distribution improvements along the Lobito Corridor.
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The assessment will focus on Lualaba Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo and North-Western Province in Zambia. It will examine the rehabilitation of existing hydropower assets, the development of new generation capacity and the expansion of electricity-distribution infrastructure.
Potential benefits for mines and communities
The proposed work is intended to improve the reliability of electricity supplied to copper and cobalt mining operations and more than three million residents in the region. It is also expected to support new electricity connections for more than half a million homes and businesses.
The project could help mining companies along the corridor reduce their dependence on costly diesel generation. The supplied information does not indicate that construction has begun or that these projected benefits have already been achieved.
USTDA said the feasibility study will identify potential U.S. sources of supply and help structure the project to attract financing. The agency also said its request for proposals for the study will be posted on its overseas-project bidding webpage at www.ustda.gov/work/bid-on-an-overseas-project.
Power infrastructure and the Lobito Corridor
The Lobito Corridor is a strategic logistics route linking parts of Central and Southern Africa to overseas markets through Angola’s Port of Lobito. It provides a route for copper, cobalt and other critical minerals.
Reliable electricity remains a significant challenge in the DRC and Zambia, according to the supplied report. Mining activity consumes much of the available power in the areas concerned, leaving households and local businesses underserved.
The proposed study forms part of wider USTDA support for the corridor. Other areas of support identified by the agency include power generation, digital connectivity, port modernization and critical-minerals extraction and processing.
Statements from project partners
Thomas R. Hardy, USTDA’s deputy director, said: “Reliable power allows mines to operate, businesses to profit, and families to thrive.”
Hardy added that the initiative would support mineral supply chains important to the United States while helping the DRC and Zambia develop the power systems needed for growth.
Brian Kelly, chief executive of Anzana Electric Group, said the countries along the corridor could create long-term economic value from their critical minerals, but that reliable electricity was necessary to support industrialization, local value addition, job creation and stronger economies.
Anzana is described as a developer, investor and operator of hydropower and grid-distribution projects across Africa. The company is backed by private American investors and Gridworks Development Partners, an Africa-focused electricity transmission and distribution investor wholly owned by British International Investment.
The feasibility study also supports the objectives of a Strategic Partnership Agreement signed by the U.S. and DRC governments in December 2025. No funding amount, implementation timetable or feasibility-study contractor was provided in the supplied information.
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