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To challenge China’s influence in Africa, US borrows from belt and road playbook
- United States pledges a billion dollars to refurbish railway in Angola – its first major infrastructure investment on the continent in decades
- Analysts say the Lobito Corridor project will be test of whether Washington can compete with Beijing to build ties and secure resources in Africa
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The United States is trying to push back on China’s influence in Africa – and betting on Angola as a test case.
For decades, China has bankrolled megaprojects in Africa – including ports, railways and power dams – under its multi-trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, while the US largely overlooked the continent. But Washington is no longer staying on the sidelines.
The US has pledged a billion dollars to refurbish the Lobito Atlantic Railway, its first major project in Africa in decades, which will stretch 1,300km (808 miles) through mineral-rich Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to create a logistics corridor to the Atlantic port of Lobito in neighbouring Angola.
Washington is also working with the European Union to build a new 800km rail line between Angola and Zambia.
During his trip to Angola last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the railway investment was “the biggest investment the United States has made in railways on the African continent in well over a generation”.
“It is at the heart of our Partnership for Global Investment and Infrastructure work in Angola,” Blinken said, referring to the Group of 7 initiative led by US President Joe Biden to mobilise US$600 billion globally for projects.
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