Observers have argued that American and Western foreign policy neglected Africa, with China recently taking advantage of the vacuum.

G7 leaders meeting in Germany pledged to raise $600 billion over five years to finance infrastructure projects in developing countries, countering China's multi-trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The project will be called the “Global Infrastructure and Investment Partnership,” and US President Joe Biden will highlight a $2 billion solar development project in Angola with support from development banks and development companies. investment.

The United States will mobilize more than $200 billion in grants and federal funds to support low- and middle-income countries to improve global health, digital infrastructure, gender equity and address climate change, Biden said.

“The G7 announcement of a new global infrastructure partnership is neither aid nor charity,” he wrote on Twitter. “It is an investment that will generate returns for everyone.”

Europe will raise more than $ 300 billion over the same time period, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said during the G7 leaders' meeting at Schloss Elmau in southern Germany.

Hundreds of billions of dollars will also come from sovereign wealth funds, multilateral development banks and financial institutions.

Other countries such as Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Japan and Italy are also expected to participate in the new development program.

The initiative comes as a counterattack to balance China's investments in developing countries, the Belt and Road Initiative, which to date has established development programs in more than 100 countries.

“China continues to welcome all initiatives to promote global infrastructure development,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said of the G7 project, while defending the BRI’s record following the comments from White House officials that it does not provide many tangible benefits.

Observers have recently pointed out the neglect of American and Western foreign policy toward the developing world, particularly Africa, a void that China has sought to exploit by launching multibillion-dollar development projects on the continent.

Many in Africa and the larger developing world have criticized the attempts by both China and the US. They have described both attempts as a form of neo-imperialism, arguing that development projects and investments should not be a pretext for calculations. geopolitical.

Source: MoroccoWorldNews