Africa-Press – Angola. The North American Government has mobilized the availability of the first installment, valued at one billion dollars, to support and accelerate the construction of the Lobito Corridor, in Angola, the interim coordinator of the Partnership for Global Investment in Angola announced this Wednesday. Infrastructures (PGI), Helaina Matza.
In a virtual press conference on the partnership between the United States of America (USA) and the European Union (EU), the official said that the amount made available marks the country’s first investment in African infrastructure similar to that of the Lobito Corridor, which connects Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia.
Without advancing the global value of this partnership, Helaina Matza said that this financing represents only the beginning or example of the support that the Governments of the most industrialized and developed countries in the world (G7) promised to give to Africa, for the construction of development infrastructures. regional and technical assistance to African cadres.
He said that this example will also be replicated in other countries, such as DRC and Zambia.
With this, he continued, the most developed countries will be able to help African countries to be increasingly connected, through rail and road, as well as digital connection.
He assured that the US is available to work to support development infrastructures, such as economic corridors that allow expanding the trans-African connection.
On the occasion, the interim special coordinator of PGI said that the beginning of the operationalization of the aforementioned partnership depends on the consultation of the Governments of the countries involved in the Lobito Corridor and the partners from the USA and the EU, who have a meeting on the agenda to clarify the support .
He stated that this partnership will be preceded by a feasibility study in the Southern Region of Angola to cover the connection with Zambia, aiming to boost regional trade and expand the connection to other African countries.
In addition to supporting the Lobito Corridor’s road and rail infrastructure, Helaina Matza said that the partnership also encompasses other areas, such as agribusiness and electricity.
Partnership for Global Infrastructure Investment like the Lobito Corridor is the largest single US and EU investment on the African continent in recent years, with a view to accelerating the development of “critical infrastructure” across sub-Saharan Africa and unlock the enormous potential of this SADC Region, according to Helaina Matza.
This partnership results from the meeting held in 2022 by the G7, made up of seven most developed countries in the world, namely the United States of America, Germany, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom.
At that meeting, the G7 Governments committed to providing financial resources and technologies to support the construction of “critical infrastructures” in Africa, with the US establishing partnerships to mobilize these resources.
The Lobito Corridor concession was handed over to the Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR) consortium and formalized on July 4, 2023, in a ceremony attended by the Presidents of Angola, DRC and Zambia.
Consisting of the companies Trafigura (49.5%), Mota-Engil (49.5%) and Vecturis SA (1%), LAR won the international competition on November 4, 2022, to ensure the management of the Lobito Corridor for 30 years.
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