Competing Transport Corridors for Africa's Critical Minerals

 Africa at LSE published on 15 April 2026 a paper titled "Critical Mineral Transport Infrastructure Is the Latest Theater of Geopolitical Competition in Africa" by Stephen Nduvi.  

Rehabilitation of the Chinese-funded Tanzania-Zambia railway is competing with the Western-funded Lobito Corridor (Angola, DRC and Zambia) infrastructure project to transport critical minerals to ports on the Atlantic or Indian Oceans.  The big challenge for African countries is converting corridor competition into sustainable development outcomes.

Challenges of Transporting Aid to Ethiopia's Tigray Region

 The BBC reported on 26 September 2021 a story titled "Ethiopia's Tigray Crisis: Why Are Hundreds of Aid Trucks Stranded?" by Peter Mwai.  

UN aid agencies estimate that 100 trucks with emergency supplies need to enter Tigray Region every day.  During the two months before 16 September, 466 trucks entered Tigray Region through Afar Region but only 38 returned.  The main problem appears to be lack of fuel in Tigray and the reluctance of drivers, most Tigrayan, to leave Tigray.  

Chinese Manufacturing Investments in Africa

The China-Africa Research Initiative (CARI) at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) published in August 2018 a study titled "What Kinds of Chinese 'Geese' Are Flying To Africa? Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms" by Deborah Brautigam, SAIS, Tang Xiaoyang, Tsinghua University, and Xia Ying, S.J.D. candidate at Harvard Law School.

The paper provides an analysis of the nature of Chinese manufacturing investments in Africa, focusing on Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania. It explores the varieties of existing Chinese manufacturing investment and the sectors into which Chinese companies are investing. Chinese manufacturing investment in Africa is expanding rapidly but the official data on investment approvals significantly overstate the actual number of investments in operation.

CARI published a policy brief on the same subject.

The Power of Ports: China's Maritime March

The Diplomat published on 8 March 2017 an interview with Sam Beatson, King's College London, titled "The Power of Ports: China's Maritime March" by Mercy A. Kuo.

Beatson concluded there is projection of power in the way China has built up and deployed port, merchant shipping, and naval assets, in addition to the economic logic of doing so. A recognition of the need to deal with Chinese vulnerability, particularly in respect of protecting the flow of commodity imports, especially energy, forms a part of the practical basis of the expansion.

China Finances Gabon's Infrastructure (French and English)

The Oxford Business Group published on 30 December 2016 in French and English an article titled "China Backs Gabon's Transport Infrastructure." It describes recent concessionary loans and private investments that are designed to support future transport infrastructure in Gabon.

Africa Construction Trends Report 2015: Role of China

Deloitte has just published its Africa Construction Trends Report 2015.  The number of projects qualifying for inclusion in 2015 is 301, a 17 percent increase over 2014.

The report dispels some myths about the perceived overwhelming role of China in the construction of infrastructure in Africa.  International development finance institutions funded most of the projects in 2015 followed by African governments, an amalgamation of participation by individual countries, and then China on a stand-alone basis.  China is the owner of only one project but is involved in the funding of 13 projects (4 percent) and heavily present in the construction of 42 projects (15 percent). 

The Mipakani Project in Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Sudan

The Mipakani Project now has a website that covers the Lamu-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor and other development initiatives in northern Kenya and bordering countries.  Mipakani is Swahili for "at the borders" or "from the borders."  The website contains a collection of downloadable documents and multimedia material dealing with the various initiatives.

UN Agreement with Somalia

The UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) signed a detailed legal agreement on 26 February 2014 with the government of Somalia.  It lays down the ground rules under which UNSOM can operate in Somalia.

African Construction Trends Report 2013

The private company Deloitte just released its "African Construction Trends Report 2013," which has some surprising conclusions concerning China's engagement in this field.  The report evaluates $222 billion invested in 322 African infrastructure projects that have a project value over $50 million and had broken ground by, but not yet been commissioned at, 1 June 2013.  The top sectors rated by investment value were energy and power, transport, mining, real estate and water, followed by gas and oil.

Based on this size and time-limited sample, the results are surprising in view of all the attention in recent years accorded to China's involvement in African infrastructure.  Europe/US stakeholders funded 15 percent of the projects and Chinese stakeholders funded 10 percent of the projects in the sample.  This still places China as the most important bilateral funding source, but not the overwhelming player that it is often said to be. European/US contractors built 37 percent of the projects and Chinese construction corporations built 12 percent, again a lower percentage than is often portrayed.