Today, at the Global Gateway Forum in Brussels, the EU and Team Europe announced several new strategic initiatives to increase their engagement in the Lobito Corridor. This major route for regional economic integration, strengthens connections between the southern regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), northwestern Zambia, and Angola, linking them more effectively to regional and global trade markets through the port of Lobito.
These new initiatives will support new value chains in agriculture and develop new education projects to even more leverage the project of Lobito Corridor.
European Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Síkela said: “As Team Europe, we believe that the Lobito Corridor can have a transformative impact on both economy and people in the whole region. It presents a significant opportunity to the development of local societies. Our aim is to unlock the potential of the corridor not only in critical raw materials, but also in different value chains that can be developed together with the corridor. We are reinforcing the cooperation between public and private key players, both in partner countries and in Europe. This is what Global Gateway is about: leveraging investments in strategic sectors to boost growth, job creation and stability.”
The scale-up of the Lobito Corridor programme includes:
- Adoption by the European Commission of a €50 million envelope to support the development of the agriculture sector along the Lobito Corridor in Angola. Through this programme, the EU will support production, distribution and investments in key agri-value chains.
- Launch of the “From Transport to Trade Corridor” project (€8 million) with Angola. The EU announced a contribution agreement with Invest International (Netherlands) and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the operationalisation of the Caála Logistics Platform.
- A new partnership with the DRC on the project “Agricultural value chains for food sovereignty, integrated rural development and ecological restoration in South-East Congo” (€10 million), to be implemented by the non-profit GoCongo Foundation.
- A 6 million EU grant to support regional trade and facilitation of procedures with DRC and Angola. Through technical assistance and capacity building, the action will support trade along the Lobito Corridor by enhancing, harmonising and simplifying customs procedures and related regulatory and legal frameworks.
- A €9.8 million contribution agreement with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) to support vocational training in Zambia’s artisanal mining sector. In addition, the “Enterprise 2.0” programme has been announced with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
- A €36 million grant from Team Europe to support access to market and inclusive and sustainable legume and horticulture agriculture value chain in Zambia, through innovative agri-enterprise development, enhancing linkages of smallholders into value chains, and job creation in rural areas.
With these new investments, the Lobito Corridor programme gets closer to the objective of being more than an infrastructure project by:
- Securing access to critical raw material value chains;
- Facilitating transport and trade at regional level and boosting exports;
- Supporting sustainable agriculture value chains and increasing productivity, including through support to small-holder farmers;
- Stimulating vocational training and new jobs in key sectors like sustainable energy, transport, agriculture and critical raw materials.
It will also secure access to essential resources for European businesses, strengthen trade ties, and create opportunities for European businesses to partner up with local and regional businesses.
Source : EU Commission