WASHINGTON: The United States plans to invest in five to 10 major infrastructure projects around the world in January as part of a broader seven groups of initiatives to fight the belt and China road initiative, said a senior US official on Monday.
The US delegation led by Vice President Joe Biden, representative of national security advisors, Daleep Singh, identified at least 10 promising projects in Senegal and Ghana during a series of “tour listening” last week, official said.
Officials meet government leaders and the private sector when they hunt projects to be funded based on the initiative of Better World (B3W) Build which was launched by G7-rich democracy in June.
Plans can be completed during the G7 meeting in December, the official said.
The US delegation visited Ecuador, Panama and Colombia during the same tour in early October, with others scheduled to visit Asia before the end of the year, the official said, without nominating certain Asian countries.
The B3W G7 initiative aims to narrow the $ 40 trillion infrastructure investment needed by developing countries in 2035 and provide an alternative to the practice of loan problems by China, officials said.
The United States will offer developing countries “full range” US financial tools, including equity bets, loan guarantees, political insurance, grants and technical expertise to focus on the climate, health, digital technology and gender equality, officials told reporters.
This effort is trying to “identify superior projects that can be launched at the beginning of next year,” the official said.
Singh joined Africa by Alexia L Lanstue, Deputy Chief Executive Official Millennium Challenge Corp., and Travis Adkins, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Africa at the US International Development Finance Corp, said Emily Horne, spokesman for the White House National Security Council.
Biden tried to advance the initiative during the meeting on the sidelines of the UN COP26 climate conference with the European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other G7 partners, he added.
The administrative official said senior officials in Senegal and Ghana welcomed us guarantees that unlike China, the largest creditors in the world, the United States will not need a non-disclosure agreement or collateral agreement that can result in port or airport seizures.
The project discussed includes preparing the possibility of a vaccine manufacturing hub for West Africa in Senegal, strengthening renewable energy supply, increasing loans to women’s businesses, and narrowing digital divisions.