"The Angolan Ministry of Transport and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) signed today [Thursday], in Luanda, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that aims to strengthen the capabilities of the transport and infrastructure sectors, through a strategic partnership that includes the donation of one million dollars from USAID", reads a statement distributed this Thursday in Luanda.
Announced following the visit of the President of the United States to Angola this week, the donation aims to "replicate the successful model of the Lobito Corridor in new strategic projects, reinforcing Angola's role in regional and global development", namely through "creation of a Project Management Unit, Concessions and Public-Private Partnerships (UGPCP), which will be responsible for identifying, preparing, monitoring and managing critical projects in the field of infrastructure".
The statement explains that the North American agency will provide technical and financial assistance for the training of this unit, while the Ministry of Transport guarantees the logistical and human resources necessary for its implementation.
"Among the priority projects, the Southern Corridor, or Namibe Corridor, and the Caio Deep Water Terminal, in Cabinda, stand out, for which international tenders will be launched soon, after the completion of preparatory work", says the executive.
With an initial duration of 24 months, the memorandum provides for the training of 11 specialists to join the UGPCP, the launch of new concession projects and the implementation of innovative solutions that position Angola as a reference in infrastructure and public-private partnerships on the continent, in the wake of the interest that the Lobito Corridor has attracted among international investors.
The agreement was signed by the Minister of Transport, Ricardo Viegas d'Abreu, and the United States Undersecretary of State for African Affairs, Mary Catherine Molly Phee.
The Lobito Corridor is the first strategic economic corridor launched under the aegis of the G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI) in May 2023, which was followed by the signing of a joint declaration between the European Union (EU) and the United States of America (USA), on the sidelines of the September 2023 G20 Summit in New Delhi, in support of the development of the Corridor.
In October last year, during the Global Gateway Forum, the EU and the US signed – together with Angola, DRCongo, Zambia, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Finance Corporation (AFC) – a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to define the roles and objectives for the expansion of the Corridor.
AFC is the main promoter of the project that will connect the three African countries, and it is expected that the railway line to be modernized, in the part that already exists, and completed, will create economic benefits of approximately 3 billion dollars for the countries, reduce atmospheric emissions by around 300 thousand tons per year, and create more than 1250 jobs during its construction and operations.
