AFRICA: The governments of Angola and Zambia have signed concession agreements with Africa Finance Corp paving the way for construction of an 800 km rail link between the two countries. The agreements covering the financing, construction, ownership and operation of the new railway were signed at a ceremony in New York on September 24, alongside the United Nations General Assembly. The event was hosted by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as the project is backed by the Biden Administration’s G-7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure & Investment. The Zambia Lobito Rail Project envisages the construction of a line through Zambia’s northwestern provinces, connecting Angola’s Benguela Railway at Luacano with the Zambia Railways network at Chingola. This would provide the shortest route for export and imports, linking key mining regions, agricultural clusters and businesses in northern Zambia and the southern DRC to the port of Lobito.