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During his final overseas trip as president, Biden will visit Angola to focus on the country’s history and economic potential. He plans to visit a slavery museum and highlight a rail corridor that is part of his administration’s regional strategy.
Authored by Zolan Kanno-Youngs
Zolan Kanno-Youngs reports on news from the White House and will be accompanying President Biden on Air Force One for a trip to Angola.
President Biden is set to start his much-anticipated journey to Africa on Sunday evening, with Angola being his first stop. The visit is intended to recognize the complex and difficult past of the two countries, while also expressing a commitment to fostering economic growth and development in the future.
President Biden’s visit to Africa marks the first time an American president has visited the continent since Barack Obama’s trip to Kenya and Ethiopia in 2015.
This visit to Angola is expected to be President Biden’s final trip abroad while in office. He had promised in 2022 to visit Africa to show the United States’ commitment to the continent’s future. Despite some delays, President Biden is now on a three-day diplomatic tour of Angola. During the visit, he plans to visit a slavery museum and highlight a rail corridor that his team sees as a key part of his administration’s economic approach in the region.
A project called the Lobito Corridor, which costs $1 billion, aims to connect Angola with Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. These countries have valuable minerals needed for making batteries in smartphones and electric vehicles. President Biden is promoting this project to increase American access to these important resources in Africa and to counter China’s increasing influence on the continent.
Even though the Biden administration has been making efforts to strengthen relationships, experts in foreign policy believe that the United States is still falling behind China and Russia in terms of economic and security dominance in Africa.
Tibor P. Nagy Jr., who has served as an ambassador in Africa appointed by President Bill Clinton and later as assistant secretary of state for African affairs under the Trump administration, mentioned that ever since the disengagement with post-colonial Africa, it has been a neglected priority. He pointed out that some administrations have ambitious African strategies that lack substance, similar to the old advertisement asking "Where is the beef?"
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