Financing the Corridors: Absa on Critical Minerals, Infrastructure and US-Africa Investment

In this interview with Garth Klintworth, Chief Representative Officer, Absa Bank Limited Representative Office – Americas, the bank outlines how its US platform and pan-African footprint are working alongside institutions such as the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and U.S. Export-Import Bank to structure bankable projects across energy, mining and regional transport corridors.

From the Lobito Corridor to wider critical minerals supply chains, Absa explains why coordinated infrastructure – power, transport and logistics – will determine whether Africa’s resource potential translates into investable projects and long-term industrial development.

1. From Absa’s US platform, how are you working with the US government and its agencies to turn Africa’s infrastructure priorities – especially corridors and critical minerals – into bankable, investable projects?

Absa’s US and Pan-African presence plays an important role in driving investment intoAfrica’s priority sectors, such as energy, mining and infrastructure. Our proximity to and relationships with key US Government agencies allows for early engagement and socialisation of new opportunities, and the ability to align with both the US and local Government’s strategic priorities on the continent. US Government agencies, such as the DFC and US Exim play an essential role in funding and derisking major African transactions, and Absa in partnership, can also play an important role in navigating local complexities. It is this collaboration and seamless connectivity facilitated by Absa’s US platform that is critical in banking the continent’s major critical mineral or mining and corridor projects.

2. What does Absa’s on-the-ground presence across African markets allow you to solve that US or international lenders cannot address from offshore?

Due to our market leading ‘on the ground’ presence, full banking proposition, regulatory knowledge, local contactsand deep sector expertise, Absa can play a differentiated role in supporting and derisking transactions on the continent. We are deeply embedded in our jurisdictions and can advise our clients on current and future local regulatory and market realities. Beyond lending, we can provide a holistic local banking proposition in our presence markets, from investment banking and advisory capabilities to currency hedging and employee banking. This coupled with an unrivalled track record and a proactive risk appetite for African transactions makes for a very strong client offering. We also have regional integration solutions.

3. When it comes to critical minerals, what are investors missing about the infrastructure required to unlock supply chains – power, transport, or logistics?

Absa is a strong proponent of regional corridors such as the Lobito Corridor to unlock critical mineral investment. Mining companies and their supply chains will not commit to new developments, multi-decade smelting or refining investments unless they see predictable corridor-wide frameworks on transport, power pricing, fiscal regimes and environmental standards. Battery and EV manufacturers will only treat African corridors as strategic production nodes if they can access sufficient scale, consistent quality and credible delivery timelines. Regional banks and DFIs will structure project finance and corporate facilities more confidently when risk is shared across a corridor with pooled revenue streams rather than tied to the fiscal position of a single sovereign. Hence, we are encouraged by the regional and international support for such initiatives and point to the DFC and DBSA’s recent loan support for the Lobito Corridor.

4. Looking at projects like the Lobito Corridor, what needs to change over the next five years for more large-scale infrastructure deals to move from strategic priority to financial close – and what role can bank like Absa play in accelerating that shift?

In practice, turning these frameworks into functioning corridors requires a different discipline from governments. It means treating a corridor as a single planning unit for power, water, data connectivity and skills, even while it traverses several jurisdictions. It means aligning fiscal terms, while allowing differentiated incentives where countries have distinct industrial strengths. It also demands joint approaches to governance, cross-border controls, and tax policies so that high standards become a feature of the corridor rather than a source of regulatory arbitrage. These elements form the operational foundation on which regional value-chain design can take shape. Absa can of course work with DFIs, other lenders, governments and investors to derisk and fund these major transactions.

5. As a sponsor of thePowering Africa Summitin Washington, what conversation is Absa most focused on advancing – policy alignment, risk mitigation, or execution – and why is this meeting important now?

Oil powered the last industrial revolutions. Critical minerals will power the next. Unlocking them requires more than extraction – it demands strategic alignment on infrastructure, policy, pricing, and efficient supply chains to access, process, and beneficiate minerals where they are owned. Africa is central to this value chain. The next phase of industrialisation cannot happen without its participation – and its upliftment.

Africa holdsclose to a thirdof the world’s known reserves of future-facing minerals. These include copper, cobalt, manganese, graphite, nickel, lithium and the platinum group metals – as well as a broader suite of inputs used in advanced manufacturing and emerging digital technologies, from rare earth elements to titanium and vanadium. Large investment in mining, energy and infrastructure is still required to develop and commercialise this vast resource wealth, hence the importance of these discussions at the PAS. Absa intends to be at the forefront of US investment in the African energy and critical mineral landscape. Befitting our status, as a premier Pan-African banking platform, our focus is on risk mitigation and ‘on the ground’ execution working closely with our US client base, as well as US government agencies and African governments.