Keypoints:
- US-backed consortium considers $500m Kabanga investment
- Tanzania project holds strategic nickel, copper and cobalt
- Washington accelerates Africa critical-minerals push
TANZANIA’S Kabanga nickel project could attract an investment of about $500m from a US government-backed consortium, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter, in a deal that could give Washington another strategic foothold in Africa’s critical-minerals sector.
Orion Critical Mineral Consortium (Orion CMC) is considering the investment in the project controlled by Lifezone Metals. Neither Lifezone nor Orion CMC has publicly confirmed the proposed $500m figure, and any transaction remains under negotiation rather than a completed investment.
The talks nevertheless point to a broader shift in US minerals policy, with Washington increasingly combining diplomacy, infrastructure investment and government-backed capital to secure access to metals considered important to batteries, defence systems and advanced technologies.
US-backed capital targets Kabanga
Orion CMC was established by Orion Resource Partners with backing from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Abu Dhabi sovereign investor ADQ.
The consortium was launched as a $1.8bn critical-minerals investment platform. DFC has committed $600m to the vehicle, giving the US government a significant mechanism for supporting investments in mining and mineral-processing assets viewed as strategically important.
DFC has linked the initiative to US economic and national security and to efforts to diversify mineral supply chains away from excessive dependence on strategic competitors.
The Tanzania discussions follow Orion CMC’s push into the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the consortium has been pursuing a 40 percent interest in Glencore’s Mutanda and Kamoto copper and cobalt businesses.
As Africa Briefing reported on the US push into Congolese copper and cobalt, the proposed structure signals Washington’s growing willingness to use government-backed finance to secure exposure to major African mineral assets.
Why Kabanga matters
Kabanga, in north-western Tanzania, is regarded by Lifezone as one of the world’s largest and highest-grade development-ready nickel sulphide deposits.
A feasibility study outlined proven and probable reserves of 52.2m tonnes grading 1.98 percent nickel, alongside copper and cobalt. The proposed underground operation would have an estimated 18-year mine life and require about $942m in pre-production capital.
A $500m strategic investment, if agreed on the terms reported by Bloomberg, would therefore represent a substantial contribution towards the financing required to bring the mine into production.
Lifezone controls an 84 percent interest in the Tanzanian operating vehicle, while the Tanzanian government holds a 16 percent free-carried interest.
For Washington, Kabanga could provide access to high-grade sulphide nickel outside an increasingly concentrated global supply chain. Indonesia now dominates world nickel production following years of rapid capacity expansion, much of it supported by Chinese investment in smelting and processing.
That gives Kabanga significance beyond a simple US-China contest. It offers Western investors another potential source of nickel at a time when governments are seeking more geographically diverse and resilient supply chains.
The shift could also increase bargaining power for African mineral-producing states. Africa Briefing has examined how attempts by major economies to diversify critical-mineral supply chains are giving African governments greater strategic leverage.
Tanzania pushes value addition
For Tanzania, however, the central question extends beyond the identity of the foreign investor.
The government has increasingly emphasised domestic processing and a larger share of the economic benefits generated by mineral production. Lifezone has said work continues on plans for downstream processing of Kabanga concentrate inside Tanzania rather than relying solely on exports of unprocessed material.
That ambition reflects a wider African drive to capture more value from mineral resources through beneficiation, refining and manufacturing.
From the DRC and Zambia to resource-rich states in West Africa, governments are demanding more local processing, stronger fiscal returns and greater participation in mining projects.
Africa’s mineral beneficiation push has consequently become an increasingly important part of the continent’s industrialisation debate.
Whether Kabanga ultimately generates substantial processing, skills transfer and industrial activity inside Tanzania could therefore prove as politically important as the nationality of the investors financing the mine.
Washington builds African minerals network
The prospective Kabanga investment also fits into a more connected US critical-minerals strategy across Africa.
Washington is backing not only mines but also the transport infrastructure required to move strategic commodities to international markets.
The Lobito Corridor has become one of the clearest examples, providing an Atlantic-facing transport route for copper and other minerals from the DRC and Zambia through Angola.
DRC copper has already reached European refining facilities through the Lobito Corridor, demonstrating the route’s potential as an alternative minerals supply chain linking Central and Southern Africa with Western markets.
Orion CMC adds another layer to that strategy by providing a vehicle capable of making direct equity, debt and other strategic investments in mineral assets.
Taken together, the initiatives show the US moving beyond statements about critical-minerals security towards financing mines, infrastructure and supply-chain relationships.
Deal still faces hurdles
Kabanga remains some distance from full construction.
Lifezone said in July that negotiations for a strategic equity investor were advanced and that multiple proposals had been received. Negotiations with the Tanzanian government over amendments to the project’s Framework Agreement, however, had progressed more slowly than expected.
The company now expects a final investment decision in the first quarter of 2027, although that timetable remains dependent on completing government agreements, investor negotiations and financing arrangements.
DFC has already completed due diligence connected to political-risk insurance, while Societe Generale is leading the broader project-financing process. Lifezone has also released hundreds of millions of dollars in potential project contracts as it prepares for eventual construction.
A $500m Orion investment could materially strengthen that financing effort if negotiations result in a binding agreement.
More broadly, Kabanga illustrates how Africa’s critical minerals are increasingly being treated not simply as commodities but as assets carrying industrial, economic-security and geopolitical significance.
For Tanzania, increased competition among foreign investors creates an opportunity. The larger prize will be ensuring that interest in Kabanga’s nickel translates into local processing, jobs, technical capability and durable economic value rather than another cycle dominated by extraction.
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