According to a G7 plan meant to compete with China’s multitrillion-dollar Belt and Road project, the United States hopes to generate $200 billion in private and public funding over the course of five years to finance necessary infrastructure in developing nations.
At the group’s annual summit, which is hosted this year at Schloss Elmau in Germany, U.S. President Joe Biden will present the proposals, joined by other leaders of the G-7, some of whom have already announced their own distinct efforts.
G7 leaders first discussed the project last year due to their growing concerns about China. They are now formally launching it under the new name “Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment,” abandoning the previous name “Build Back Better World” that Biden had used during his presidential campaign.
Leaders from Britain, Germany, Japan, the European Union, and Canada will be present for Biden’s announcement of a number of specific projects at a G7 side event. Biden has vowed to concentrate on initiatives that help combat climate change as well as enhance global health, gender equity, and digital infrastructure. The French president, Emmanual Macron, who had formally joined the Chinese infrastructure initiative, will be noticeably absent.
The White House said that hundreds of billions of additional dollars might come from multilateral development banks, development finance organizations, sovereign wealth funds, and other sources in addition to grants and government monies and leveraging private-sector investments.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) program of China, which was introduced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, entails investment and development initiatives in more than 100 nations, with a variety of projects including trains, ports, and roadways.
According to White House officials, Xi’s goal to modernize the Silk Road trade route has not significantly benefited many developing nations, with top employment going to Chinese employees while rates of forced and child labor have increased.
Biden will highlight a number of signature initiatives, including a $2 billion solar development project in Angola that has the backing of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, the Commerce Department, the American company AfricaGlobal Schaffer, and U.S. project developer Sun Africa.
Washington will also contribute $3.3 million in technical support to the Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Senegal as it develops an industrial-scale flexible multi-vaccine manufacturing facility there that will eventually be able to produce COVID-19 and other vaccines. This support will be given in conjunction with G7 members and the EU.
Additionally, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will contribute up to $50 million over a five-year period to the World Bank’s new worldwide Childcare Incentive Fund, an initiative designed to fill the infrastructural gap for quality childcare.
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