Side event EU Raw Materials Week 2025 : Lobito Corridor Initiative

In November 2025, Resource Matters, Fern and Afrewatch co-organized a high-level side event at EU Raw Materials Week in Brussels entitled “Clean Energy Transition in the DRC: Opportunities and Challenges of the Lobito Corridor Initiative”.

The event brought together European policymakers, civil society experts, and international partners to discuss how this major infrastructure and investment project—linking Angola, the DRC, and Zambia—could shape the country’s role in global supply chains for transition minerals.

Discussions highlighted the tensions between industrial development and environmental and social risks, including deforestation in the Miombo forests, community displacement, and persistent gaps in electricity access in mining regions. Drawing on research and field evidence, Resource Matters’ partners emphasized the need to align European investments with stronger safeguards for communities, improved governance, and expanded access to clean energy. The event underscored the importance of ensuring that the Lobito Corridor delivers tangible and equitable benefits for the Congolese population while supporting a just energy transition.