The commercial relationship between Angola and the United States of America received significant boosts this year with the announcement by the Americans of the disbursement of 250 million dollars, to support and accelerate the construction of the Lobito corridor
The Lobito corridor is a project that is seen as recognition of the potential of the railway line from Porto Comercial to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia, although it has yet to be adjusted to the locomotives acquired from General Electric, which have been idled for a few years. The Americans intend to channel this value into the Corridor investment within the International Development Financing Corporation (DFC).
This announcement was made by President Joe Biden at the last G-7 meeting in Japan, an action by the American Presidency that is part of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment initiative for low and middle income countries (PGI). PGI’s interim coordinator, Helaina Matza, reported that the amount made available marks this country’s first investment in similar African infrastructure.
Helaina Matza said that this financing represents just 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 regional development infrastructures and technical assistance to African staff.
The Lobito project is the first step in connecting and developing Angola’s commercial and economic activity with the DRC that can help promote greater investment in agriculture, digital infrastructure and expanded access to electricity. The Lobito corridor is formed by the port of this city and the Benguela Railways, being the fastest export route for copper, cobalt and other ores to countries such as Zambia and the DRC.
“Big step towards economic diversification”
The European Union considers the Lobito Corridor a major step towards diversifying the economy of Angola and the other two member countries and, in effect, guaranteeing regional integration. The European Union ambassador to Angola, Jeannette Seppen, highlighted that the management of the corridor will boost Angola’s economy.
Recall that the World Bank injected 300 million for the Economic Diversification Acceleration Program with a focus on supporting companies located within the perimeter of the Lobito Corridor, having stressed that Angola continues to be a privileged partner of the European Union.
As a result, Jeannette Seppen said that Angola and the European Union should promote, in the near future, a business forum to attract investments with a view to enabling businesspeople to identify new areas and opportunities to invest.
The Lobito Corridor, which stretches from the Port of Lobito, bathed by the Atlantic Ocean, and crosses Angola from West to East, passing through the provinces of Benguela, Huambo, Bié and Moxico, has a railway length of 1,866 kilometers, with 1,344 kilometers, in Angola alone, giving access to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia.
200 million inhabitants benefited
The Minister of Transport, Ricardo de Abreu, recently stated that the three economies (Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo) are today worth approximately more than 200 billion dollars. With the corridor, it is expected to create social well-being for more than 200 million inhabitants, who live, work and benefit from the existence and operation of the aforementioned project.
Not being a recent creation, the Minister of Transport considers it a powerful infrastructure that definitively marks Angola’s image to the world, particularly among private investors and financial entities in the United States and Europe.