Blinken hails progress in construction of Angola's Lobito rail corridor

LUANDA, Jan 25 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hailed progress in the construction of the Lobito Corridor, a rail link key to metals exports from the central African Copperbelt, during a visit to Angola on Thursday.

The United States has been supporting the project that links resource-rich Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia to the port of Lobito in Angola to bypass logistics bottlenecks in South Africa that have held up exports of copper and cobalt.

"I had a chance today to see some of the dramatic progress that's already been made in building out this corridor. It is moving faster and further I think that we might have imagined," Blinken told a news conference, standing alongside Angolan Foreign Minister Tete Antonio.

The United States has committed funding to refurbish the existing 1,300-km (800-mile) rail line and has taken the first steps to build out another 800 km, he added.

Blinken said the expansion of the corridor would secure critical minerals supply chains and spur investment in telecommunications, agriculture and other sectors.

"We maintain the dream of linking the Atlantic and Indian Ocean through that specific corridor," Antonio said.

Blinken praised Angolan President Joao Lourenco's efforts to de-escalate tensions between Rwanda and the DRC and said he had talked to Lourenco about ways to "move the diplomatic track forward".

Fighting in Congo's east between the Congolese army and the M23 rebel group has caused a diplomatic rift between Rwanda and the DRC, with Congo accusing Rwanda of backing M23, which Rwanda denies.

Blinken is on the last stop of a four-nation Africa tour that also took him to Cape Verde, Ivory Coast and Nigeria.

The trip's stated purpose was to discuss U.S.-African partnerships over trade, climate, infrastructure, health and security.

In Nigeria, Blinken said the United States was determined to remain a strong security partner. He also pledged $45 million in additional financing to help fight conflict and bring stability to coastal West Africa.mtl (Reporting by Miguel Gomes; Additional reporting by Felix Njini; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Alexander Winning and Andrew Heavens)