Africa: US President Joe Biden to Visit Angola October 13-15 to Strengthen Bilateral Economic Relations and Consolidate US Commitment to Africa

US President Joe Biden will visit Angola October 13-15 to strengthen bilateral economic relations and consolidate US commitment to Africa, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced in a statement released on September 24.

“President Biden will travel to Angola, where he will meet with Angolan President João Lourenço to discuss increased collaboration on shared priorities, including strengthening our economic partnerships that keep our businesses competitive and protect workers,” the statement said.

The talks between the two leaders will also focus on the Lobito Corridor Extension Project, a set of port and rail infrastructure designed to connect copper and cobalt mines in southern Democratic Republic of Congo and northwestern Zambia to regional and global markets via the port of Lobito in Angola.

“This corridor advances our shared vision of Africa’s first open-access transcontinental rail network, starting in Lobito and eventually connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean,” the White House said, recalling that the project, to which Washington has provided substantial financial support in recent months, is part of the “Global Partnership for Infrastructure and Investment” (GPII), a vast program for developing countries launched by the Group of Seven most industrialized countries (G7) and presented as a response to China’s New Silk Roads initiative.

The White House tenant should also discuss with his Angolan counterpart “strengthening democracy and civic engagement, stepping up action on climate security and the transition to clean energy, and improving peace and security”.

Karine Jean-Pierre also indicated that Joe Biden’s visit to Luanda “underscores the United States’ continued commitment to its African partners and demonstrates that working together to solve common problems benefits the people of the United States and the entire African continent”.

The United States, which has focused its diplomatic efforts for about a year on de-escalating the Middle East, where a bloody conflict pits Israel against the Palestinian movement Hamas, thus seems to be returning to Africa while Russia and China are gaining ground there, thanks to their multifaceted commitments.

At the US/Africa Summit held in December 2022, the American president pledged to inject $55 billion into Africa over three years, breaking with the disinterest in the continent that had characterized the Trump years.