South African Firms to Invest $600m in DRC Dry Port to Boost Copper and Cobalt Exports
South African private equity firms and lenders plan to invest $600 million in debt and equity to build a major dry port in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), aimed at reducing severe congestion on one of Africa’s busiest mineral export routes.
Yellowstone, a South African group that has secured a 20-year concession to design, construct, and operate the port, will raise funding alongside leading South African banks, including Standard Bank Group and Nedbank Group.
Investment firms such as Ninety One and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) will also participate. The financing structure will consist of 77.5% debt, according to project head Francois Diedrechsen.
A concession agreement has already been signed, with due diligence and financial close expected by the end of July, Diedrechsen noted.
The project will operate on a user-pay model designed to service both debt and equity. The DRC government will receive a royalty share of between 7% and 15%, depending on monthly revenue performance, he said.
Growing geopolitical and trade tensions are encouraging more African financiers to support continental infrastructure projects, which will in turn promote intra-African trade, Diedrechsen added.
Unlocking a Key Mineral Corridor
Once operational, the dry port is expected to process around 1,500 trucks per day, transporting critical minerals such as copper and cobalt through Zambia to the ports of Durban (South Africa) and Maputo (Mozambique).
The project could cut clearance times at the Kasumbalesa border crossing from six days to just four hours.
“There is a broader push within the Southern African Development Community to modernise border posts and improve trade flows across the region,” said Diedrechsen, who previously worked on upgrades at the Beitbridge border between Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Meanwhile, the United States is investing billions of dollars in alternative export routes for Congolese minerals, notably the Lobito Corridor, which links mining regions to the Atlantic coast in Angola via a 1,300-km railway.
China, which dominates processing of Congo’s copper and cobalt, continues to expand logistics through the Indian Ocean, while also financing new dry ports and transport infrastructure to support mineral exports.
