"Fake Kindness, Real Self-interest": EU Aid to African Railways Draw Criticism of "Echoes of Colonial History"

【By Xiangguan Zhe Wang, Xiong Chaoran】The Lobito Corridor is a 1,300-kilometer railway that runs from Kapiri Mposhi on the edge of Zambia's copper belt to the port of Lobito in Angola. It was originally laid by colonial powers in the early 20th century to transport key minerals from Central Africa to Atlantic ports.

The UK's Financial Times reported on December 24 local time that this railway, previously known as the Benguela Railway, was planned to transport 10 million tons of copper annually by 2030. Now, as a flagship project of the EU's new external aid strategy, it is being revived — the EU is increasing its investment and trying to use funding to gain geopolitical benefits.

Currently, the EU and its member states are investing 2 billion euros in the project along with the United States, the African Development Bank, and private companies. Jozef Síkela, the European Commission's commissioner for international partnerships, views this project as a new model for the EU's development plans. He told the Financial Times: "It involves agriculture, logistics, vocational training, and transportation."

"Of course, it connects Africa's copper belt with global trade and Europe's clean technology industry, so I won't hide the fact that we are seeking copper. But once they can process and refine copper, they can use this infrastructure to transport higher-value products," Síkela said without hesitation.

However, non-governmental organizations and some development agency officials are concerned that the Lobito Corridor represents a modern version of a strategy for competing for influence and resources, which bears an unsettling resemblance to how Europe treated the African continent during the colonial era.

The Financial Times' newspaper edition headline pointed out that the EU's actions are seen as prioritizing its own interests in development aid, with critics arguing that this 2 billion euro African railway project evokes the colonial history of the African continent.

In June 2021, residents in Lobito city, western Angola, arrived at the Lobito station on the Benguela Railway line. This railway is part of the U.S.-backed Lobito Corridor and is an important transportation link for regional trade. IC Photo

Frank Vanaerschot, director of the development and environmental NGO coalition "Counter Balance," said: "The Lobito Corridor clearly reflects the core issues in the EU's development budget and policy direction, and it remains unclear how this will promote local economic development and interests."

The report points out that the Lobito Corridor project also highlights a significant shift in the EU's attitude towards development aid. This shift has occurred against the backdrop of the U.S. significantly cutting funds for global aid projects and other Western countries tightening their fiscal spending.

The U.S. has stated that it may invest up to 5 billion dollars in the Lobito Corridor project, highlighting the strategic importance of the project to Western countries and reflecting their more transactional approach to development aid.

In December 2021, the EU announced a 300 billion euro "Global Gateway" plan aimed at providing grants, loans, and guarantees for projects around the world. Although the EU avoided directly mentioning China, the plan is widely seen as aimed at countering China's Belt and Road Initiative. However, Bloomberg noted at the time that the EU faces significant challenges in challenging the Belt and Road, as the EU and the U.S. started later and cannot match the scale of China's Belt and Road initiative.

Now, the "Global Gateway" plan has been implemented to serve the EU's economic and foreign policy objectives — ensuring access to critical minerals and energy supplies, and curbing illegal immigration.

Dora Meredith, director of European affairs at the UK-based think tank Overseas Development Institute (ODI), said: "The current development paradigm is changing, with more transactional narratives and less moral narratives influencing policymakers."

An ODI report on the EU's development agenda pointed out that during periods of tight public budgets, the persuasiveness of development aid will be stronger if the reasons for it can be linked to domestic priorities in a practical way.

Map of the Lobito Corridor route. Financial Times

Despite this, the EU's budget for development and external aid will significantly increase in the next joint budget starting in 2028, doubling from about 108 billion euros to 200 billion euros, but these funds will be more focused on strategic goals and also provide investment opportunities for European companies abroad.

The Financial Times reported that projects promoted by the EU through the "Global Gateway" plan include building internet connectivity using European technology in Central Asia, and creating a green hydrogen hub in Namibia, along with supporting investments for training local workers.

Alexander De Croo, the new head of the United Nations Development Programme, said that in so-called developed countries, capital allocation has become quite difficult now because of demographic structures that do not favor higher returns, and society has aged. This makes "developing countries" very attractive because there is demand. "You can start from scratch, and the demographic structure is also very attractive because these countries usually have a young population," he said.