US plans key infrastructure projects to challenge China’s Belt and Road Initiative

The Build Back Better World scheme seeks to offer funding for projects with higher labour standards, a focus on climate and helping vulnerable groups

US delegates have made trips to several countries to target flagship projects, an official said, with announcements to be made as soon as January

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (second from the left) visits a Chinese-funded project in Dakar, Senegal. File photo: EPA

Published: 10:47pm, 9 Nov 2021Updated: 12:19am, 10 Nov 2021

The United States plans to invest in large infrastructure projects around the world as part of a broader G7 programme to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a senior US official said on Monday, with between five and 10 flagship projects announced as soon as January.

The “Build Back Better World” (B3W) programme seeks to counter Chinese influence by offering funding for projects with higher labour standards, a focus on climate considerations and helping disadvantaged groups like female entrepreneurs.

It takes its name from President Joe Biden’s campaign slogan and was launched by the leaders of the world’s richest democracies at the G7 summit earlier this year.

Biden has said he hopes that by involving the private sector, insisting on additional transparency, and offering equity financing instead of the onerous debt financing required by the Chinese, the US and other countries can offer a preferable development path.

A woman walks past a Chinese construction site for a new flyover in the outskirts of Accra, Ghana. File photo: Ruom

A US delegation led by Biden’s deputy national security adviser, Daleep Singh, last week identified at least 10 promising projects in Senegal and Ghana during a series of “listening tours”, the official said.

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