The US and the EU have joined forces with the African Development Bank (AFDB) and the Africa Finance Corporation to launch the west’s latest attempt to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

The parties have signed a memorandum of understanding setting out plans to develop the “Lobito Corridor” and the Zambia–Lobito railway, which will together form a link across Africa through a number of large mineral deposits.

The deal was done on the margins of the Global Gateway Forum in Brussels, an invitation-only meeting of EU governments with companies, banks, and international organisations intended to promote international infrastructure.

The State Department said in a press statement that the project was “the most significant transport infrastructure that the US has helped develop on the African continent in a generation, and will enhance regional trade and growth as well as advance the shared vision of connected, open-access rail from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean”.

As well as the railway, the corridor will involve 4G and later 5G telecoms systems and a billion-dollar investment in solar farms and microgrids.  

South African broadcaster News24 notes that the US and the EU have adopted a scheme that was already under way.

In July this year, Zambia, the DRC, and Angola signed their own memorandum of understanding on progressing the corridor. A consortium led by multinational commodities trader Trafigura had already been appointed to run a $570m rehabilitation scheme.

Ms Matza said: “When we found the opportunity to support the work that the DRC Government, the Angolan Government, and the Zambian government had already decided they wanted to do in their tripartite agreement, which they very serendipitously signed on 4 July this year, we wanted to make sure we were doing everything we could to help with those efforts.”

News24 commented: “This is a direct challenge to China’s BRI, largely viewed as an unsettling extension of China’s rising power.

“However, it will be impossible to avoid working with China on the Lobito project since Mota-Engil, partly owned by China Communications, signed an agreement to run the Lobito Corridor as part of the Trafigura consortium.” 

Invest or Donate towards HICGI New Agency Global Media Establishment – Watch video here

Email: editorial@hicginewsagency.com TalkBusiness@hicginewsagency.com WhatsApp +256713137566

Invest or Donate towards HICGI New Agency Global Media Estab lishment – Watch video here 

Follow us on Social Media , just type “HICGI News Agency”