What the Angolan project does have is a deep-sea port suitable for handling raw materials.
It also enjoys a strategic location in a free-trade zone, benefiting from shared infrastructure, favourable business rates and access to reliable power.
Competitively priced power is critical for any aluminium smelter, which can consume as much energy in a year as a city the size of Boston.
Angolan power costs are comparable with global averages, according to the report. Those in Mozambique aren't, which is why South32 S32.AX has put its Mozal plant on care and maintenance.
For both copper and zinc smelters, the really critical infrastructure is the capacity to store, transport and place the sulphuric acid generated by the smelting process.
The most robust copper smelter economics arise from co-location with large acid consumers such as fertilizer plants or, in the case of Zambia's copper smelters, regional mines using acid as a leaching reagent.
Another advantage enjoyed by Angola's aluminium smelter project is cheap construction.
Capital expenditure (capex) is estimated around $2,084 per ton of aluminium, higher than domestic Chinese smelters but "remarkably" low relative to the rest of the world.
This is because the project is using production equipment transferred from idled smelters in China.
Indonesia's massive expansion of aluminium smelting capacity is also being led by Chinese entities and coming in at similarly low capex of under $3,000 per ton.
Capex for any sort of smelter outside China is high and rising, thanks to soaring equipment and construction costs.
With fewer smelters built in the West in the last decade or so, the number of equipment suppliers has dwindled and prices have risen accordingly.
"Chinese technology and engineering costs can provide more affordable solutions through modular equipment designed to lower specifications," the authors of the report note.
XLB•
