For the first time since 2015, a U.S. president will return to Africa later today. In what will likely be his last overseas trip as White House tenant, Joe Biden will land in Angola. The oil-rich country is a key U.S. partner on the African continent.
Biden was supposed to visit the nation last October, but the trip was postponed because of hurricanes that struck the U.S. His trip will highlight investments in the Lobito Corridor, a billion-dollar rail project supported by the United States and Europe that aims to facilitate the transport of critical minerals from inland Africa to Angola’s western port for export.
The initiative is at the heart of the Biden administration’s efforts to increase investment in Africa and counter China’s growing influence in the region. Over the past decade, Beijing has invested billions of dollars in infrastructure projects across the continent through the Belt and Road Initiative. In September, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged $50 billion in financial support to the continent and military aid. Russia has also sought to expand its influence among African territories.
As explained by a senior U.S. federal administration official, “President Biden’s goal is to transform our relations in the region, offer a different investment, but with higher standards.”
The Biden administration has been trying to shift its strategy in Africa from one of development assistance and charity to investments in specific countries-a plan that the outgoing government hopes future administrations will continue. “I think there are many reasons to assume that some of these initiatives will continue,” indeed revealed a senior official very close to the current U.S. leader.
To underscore his commitment to Africa, Biden hosted Angolan President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço in the Oval Office in 2023, announcing U.S. investments in the Lobito Corridor and solar energy projects.
In Luanda today, the president will meet with U.S. Embassy staff. Tomorrow, however, he will hold a meeting with Lourenço and deliver a speech at the National Slavery Museum. On Wednesday, he will travel to Lobito, where he will visit the local port terminal and the Carrinho food processing factory. Finally, the president will make a series of new announcements regarding a global health security partnership on infectious diseases, the agribusiness sector, security cooperation, and the preservation of Angola’s cultural heritage.
