Trump Administration Launches $500M US-Africa Strategic Investment Program

On 23 July 2026, the Bureau of African Affairs under the US State Department launched a USD 500 million US-Africa Strategic Investment Program. The Program aims to facilitate private sector investments in Africa. In line with the Department’s new mantra of #TradeNotAid, the US will focus on fostering conditions for private investments in strategic sectors such as #CriticalMinerals, rather than blanket aid.

The State Department is aware that mining and infrastructure projects in Africa can routinely go up to hundreds of millions or even higher to billions. Therefore, this half-a-billion fund is not for directly investing into the projects, but rather to ‘create the right conditions’ for the US private sector to invest.

The projects include improving geological data, streamlining regulatory frameworks, funding transaction advisory services, and expanding local mineral processing capacity. The #LobitoCorridor is the flagship project of this new commercial diplomacy push by the US in Africa.

The communique underscores that Africa holds roughly 30% of the world’s mineral reserves, including dominant shares of cobalt, copper and platinum group of metals (PGM). Washington views these as essential to its defense, microelectronics and other advanced industries.

The Bureau has already identified some 10 cooperation projects, with each to receive grants of USD 5 to 50 million. The State Department welcomes more applications via its US government online grants platform.