In the aftermath of Angola’s devastating civil war, in 2006, one of Africa’s most essential economic lifelines, the Benguela Railway, lay in ruins. For nearly a century, it had transported vast mineral reserves to global markets through the Port of Lobito on Angola’s Atlantic coast. But it was suddenly inoperable. Without it, the country’s resources were effectively stranded inland, unable to move to the port.
Angola struck a $2 billion deal with a group of Chinese firms to rebuild the 800-mile railway. What followed has become a familiar playbook: rapid financing, imported labor, lightning construction — and Beijing’s effective control over the country’s critical minerals.
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But the cost to local communities was just as familiar: a poorly-built railway plagued by neglect, frequent derailments, and malfunctioning safety systems, according to a Wall Street Journal investigation.
Angola’s experience informs the broader
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