AF files, lot 58 D 459, “Miscellaneous”

The Officer in Charge of West, Central, and East Africa Affairs (Feld) to the Consul General at Salisbury (Sims)

confidential personal
official–informal

Dear Sam: The Department and other agencies have recently been devoting considerable attention to the whole question of the Pafuri railway project, with particular reference to the short and long run strategic material and general economic benefits that the Western powers will derive from the construction of this line linking Southern Rhodesia to the port of Lourenco Marques. In order to iron out certain apparent differences that had arisen with regard to the justifications for American interest in and financial assistance to Southern Rhodesia and, to a lesser extent, Portuguese East Africa in advancing this project, an interdepartmental meeting was held on February 20. I am enclosing for your information a memorandum of conversation which [Page 304] outlines the views of Mr. Stott of DMPA and other officials concerned with this problem.1

At the conclusion of the meeting which this memorandum summarizes there was fairly general agreement on the overall merits of the Pafuri scheme. However, Mr. Stott’s recital of the problems that have stemmed over a period of years from the shortage of coal supplies from the Wankie colliery and the problem faced by the mines in Northern Rhodesia in getting sufficient coal delivered by the Southern Rhodesian railways to make possible increased copper production in the Copperbelt, posed the question of whether U.S. financial assistance for the Pafuri project should not be tied in some way to increased production and deliveries of coal. There is at least an impression in some people’s minds that the Wankie colliery, now operated by the British firm of Powell-Duffryn, for reasons not easy to single out, does not give much future promise of being able to produce sufficient coal to take care of the needs of the Copperbelt and the increasing requirements of industry in general throughout Central Africa. We would, therefore, like to recieve your reaction to the problems presented in the enclosed memorandum, and specifically your reaction to the proposal to tie coal deliveries into any possible financing arrangement for the Pafuri project.

With very best regards,

Sincerely yours,

Nicholas Feld