Zambia and the US have agreed to redirect part of the 491 million dollar Millennium Challenge Corporation grant originally signed in 2024 for agriculture toward infrastructure supporting the Lobito Corridor.
The farm-to-market compact was meant to cut transport costs and improve market access for farmers, but the realignment now targets roads in North-Western and Copperbelt provinces that link Zambia’s copperbelt to the Lobito rail line.
Finance Ministry officials say the shift will support both agriculture and critical minerals by improving logistics for copper, cobalt, and farm produce heading to Angola’s Atlantic port. Priority segments for rehabilitation have been aligned with the corridor, which is backed by over 6 billion dollars in global commitments and seen as a key route for Western markets to reduce reliance on Chinese-controlled supply chains.
The move reflects Zambia’s push to position itself in the energy transition while keeping agricultural development on track. The original compact, worth 458 million dollars from the US and 33 million from Zambia, was designed to boost productivity, finance, and policy reforms for smallholders.
Under the amendment, those goals remain, but infrastructure spending will also facilitate mineral exports and attract private investment in mining and processing.
The Lobito Corridor project is targeting financial close in late 2027, with the African Finance Corporation leading development.
For Zambia, linking farm-to-market roads to a strategic trade corridor offers a way to spread the economic benefits of critical minerals across rural communities and the broader Copperbelt economy.
The UPND government is so busy talking airports and universities, but they have failed to resolve a Kamono issue whose money is lying in a frozen bank account, all what is needed is to unfreeze and pay the rightful owners, Ba kangiwa. mebo kubavotela pe pe