USTDA has signed a $3 million grant with Anzana Electric Group to study expanding hydropower and electricity distribution across Congo's Lualaba province and north-western Zambia, targeting power reliability for copper and cobalt mines feeding the US-backed Lobito Corridor.
At a glance
- USTDA signed a $3 million grant with Anzana Electric Group for a power infrastructure feasibility study.
- The study covers Congo's Lualaba province and north-western Zambia, both key copper and cobalt mining regions.
- It follows a separate $553 million US loan for the Lobito Corridor rail route linking the region to Angola's Atlantic coast.
Background
The Lobito Corridor is a roughly 1,300-kilometre rail and port route connecting copper and cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to the Atlantic port of Lobito in Angola. Washington has backed the corridor as part of a broader push to secure critical mineral supply chains outside China-linked routes. The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) is a government agency that funds feasibility studies for infrastructure projects in developing countries.
What the agreement covers
USTDA has signed an agreement with Anzana Electric Group, a hydropower developer formerly known as Virunga Power, to fund a $3 million feasibility study. The study will assess rehabilitating existing hydropower plants, building new generation capacity and expanding electricity distribution networks across Congo's Lualaba province and Zambia's north-western provinces.
USTDA says reliable power from the study could benefit mining operations that feed the Lobito Corridor as well as more than three million people living in the region. Proposals from firms wanting to carry out the study are due by October 26, 2026.
Why Washington is funding African power grids
Mines in this part of Congo and Zambia produce much of the copper and cobalt moving through the Lobito Corridor. Unreliable power supply has long constrained how much ore they can process on-site. Expanding hydropower and grid capacity would let mines run more consistently and could support more processing capacity closer to the mines rather than shipping only raw ore.
The power study builds on a $553 million loan the US International Development Finance Corporation signed for the Lobito Corridor itself. That loan aims to increase the route's rail capacity roughly tenfold to 4.6 million tonnes a year, while cutting transport costs by 30%. Together, the two moves show Washington treating power and rail as connected pieces of the same critical-minerals strategy.
What comes next
The feasibility study is an early step: it identifies which power projects are worth building, not a commitment to build them. Its findings will shape which hydropower and grid investments US and other financiers eventually put money behind in the region.
Our read
Outlook: neutral. This is an infrastructure planning step years from delivering new power capacity, so it has no near-term effect on copper or cobalt prices, though it addresses a long-standing constraint on Central African output.
What to watch
- Which firm wins the feasibility study contract after the October 26, 2026 proposal deadline.
- Progress on the separate $553 million DFC loan for the Lobito Corridor's rail expansion.
- Whether mining companies in Lualaba province report power-related output constraints easing.
For information only, not investment advice.
Copper price in India
metalscost.com India reference price as of 2026-10-03.
Detailed analysis
Timeline
- 2026-09-23: USTDA signs the power feasibility study agreement with Anzana Electric Group.
- 2026-10-26: Deadline for firms to submit proposals for the feasibility study.
Technical view
Price is mixed relative to its 20-period and 50-period moving averages, showing no clear trend alignment.
Computed from metalscost.com's own stored price history.
United States