US companies sign Africa deals in 'trade over aid'
LUANDA - US companies pledged investments in Africa ranging from power lines to digital infrastructure at a business summit that underscored Washington's push for growth through trade, not aid, US authorities said Thursday.
The deals were agreed at the US-Africa Business Summit of African leaders and representatives of the US government and private sector that wrapped up in Luanda Wednesday, the US embassy in Angola said in a statement.
Angola is the key US partner in one of its most ambitious projects on the continent focused on a railway line transporting critical minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia to Angola's Atlantic Ocean port of Lobito from where they can be exported.
It is seen as a US counterpoint to China's expanding economic influence in Africa.
The Lobito Corridor -- also funded by the European Union and African multilateral institutions -- aims to set up logistics and agricultural production zones along the railway line through private investment.
One of the deals from the meeting was for a US consortium to work with an Angolan group to construct and operate 22 grain silo terminals along the Lobito Corridor, the statement said.
Another was a memorandum of understanding on the construction of a 1,150-kilometre (720-mile) electricity transmission line between Angola and the DRC, it said.
Other planned collaborations included for boosting digital infrastructure and cybersecurity in Angola, to develop West Africa's first terminal for US-sourced LNG in Sierra Leone, and for a US stake in a hydropower project spanning Rwanda and the DRC.
"The Trump administration views this moment as an opportunity to deepen our engagement across Africa's economic landscape," the president's senior advisor for Africa, Massad Boulos, was quoted as telling the meeting.
"We believe that business and trade, not aid, are the engines of long-term, sustainable growth," he said.
Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has announced major cuts in US foreign aid including for projects in Africa.
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