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During what is expected to be his final overseas trip as president, Biden will visit Angola with a focus on exploring the country’s history and economic potential. He plans to visit a slavery museum and highlight a rail corridor that plays a key role in his administration’s regional strategy.
Authored by Zolan Kanno-Youngs
Zolan Kanno-Youngs reports on the happenings at the White House and will be accompanying President Biden on Air Force One for a trip to Angola.
President Biden will embark on his long-anticipated trip to Africa on Sunday evening, starting with a visit to Angola. The purpose of the visit is to recognize the difficult history shared between the two countries and to show a commitment to future economic investments.
The upcoming visit to Africa by President Biden will be 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 international trip before the end of his term. In 2022, he promised to visit Africa to show the United States’ commitment to the continent’s future. Despite some setbacks, President Biden is now embarking on a three-day diplomatic tour of Angola. During his visit, he will tour a slavery museum and highlight a rail corridor that his team sees as a key component of his administration’s economic plans for the region.
A project called the Lobito Corridor, costing $1 billion, aims to connect Angola with Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. These countries are abundant in critical minerals essential for making batteries for smartphones and electric vehicles. President Biden is emphasizing this project to strengthen American access to these crucial resources in Africa and to counter China’s increasing influence in the region.
Foreign policy experts believe that despite efforts from the Biden administration to strengthen relationships, the United States is still falling behind China and Russia in gaining economic and security leverage in Africa.
Tibor P. Nagy Jr., who served as an ambassador in Africa under President Bill Clinton and later as assistant secretary of state for African affairs under the Trump administration, expressed that since disengaging with post-colonial Africa, it has been given very little importance. He mentioned that some administrations have presented ambitious African strategies, but the actual implementation and results are lacking, similar to the concept in an old advertisement asking, "Where is the beef?"
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