President Joe Biden is traveling to Angola on December 1, underscoring the U.S. commitment to strengthening ties with the African country amid increasing geopolitical competition with communist China.
According to the White House, the outgoing president’s trip aims to counter Beijing’s growing influence in the continent and lay the foundation for a new U.S. approach to Africa that will endure beyond Biden’s presidency.
According to the White House, the outgoing president’s trip aims to counter Beijing’s growing influence in the continent and lay the foundation for a new U.S. approach to Africa that will endure beyond Biden’s presidency.
The trip was originally scheduled for Oct. 13 but was postponed due to Hurricane Milton.
A senior administration official highlighted that U.S. strategy toward Africa has changed under Biden. The president has put a greater emphasis on investment in the continent rather than relying on traditional development aid, grants, and charity, the official told reporters during a call on Nov. 29.
This is why Biden’s visit is significant and why Angola was chosen, he added.
While there, Biden is expected to highlight his key initiative known as the Lobito Corridor project, which the administration has said is critical for U.S. economic and national security. Launched last year, the rail line investment project will allow the United States to access critical mineral reserves in Africa and expand Africa’s economic opportunities.
The eventual 1,000-mile railway would span three countries, linking Angola’s port city of Lobito to the mineral-rich areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia’s Copperbelt. It’s considered Washington’s major effort to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Africa.
The senior administration official stated that the U.S. investments provide an alternative to Chinese investments, which are often associated with “low standards, child labor, and corruption.”
The infrastructure investment will potentially reduce the time it takes to transport critical minerals from 45 days to about 45 hours, he added.
Biden will be in Angola’s capital, Luanda, from Dec. 2 to Dec. 4. His trip marks the first visit to Africa by a U.S. president in nearly a decade. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama made multiple trips to the continent during their presidencies, while President Donald Trump did not travel there during his first term.
Biden’s trip will also be the first time a sitting U.S. president has visited Angola.
The Biden officials believe that many of its initiatives will continue under the incoming administration.
“U.S.–Africa policy has actually benefited from really strong bipartisan support over the course of multiple administrations. And I think that’s a pretty remarkable tradition,” another senior administration official said during the call.
Biden is expected to deliver a speech in Luanda highlighting his efforts to close Africa’s infrastructure gap, expand economic opportunities, and promote technological and scientific cooperation with the continent.
At the 2022 Africa Leaders’ Summit, the U.S. government pledged to invest $55 billion in Africa and has met 80 percent of the investment commitment since then, according to the White House.
Biden will also hold a bilateral meeting with President João Lourenço of Angola during his visit.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Lourenço stated that, to date, only U.S. oil and gas companies have invested in Angola, an oil rich country. However, he hopes that Biden’s upcoming visit will help diversify U.S. investments into other sectors.
He added that the Angolan government is not concerned that the bilateral relationship between the two countries will be impacted by the incoming Trump administration.
Lourenço attended the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit in 2022 hosted by Biden in Washington. He later visited Biden at the White House in December last year.
In Luanda, Biden is expected to announce new deliverables related to global health security, agribusiness, security cooperation, and preserving Angola’s cultural heritage.
Reuters
