Biden makes first presidential visit to sub-Saharan Africa

The trip comes amid uncertainty about Washington’s relations with countries on the continent before Donald Trump takes office

US President Joe Biden has arrived in Angola for a long-awaited trip to sub-Saharan Africa, the first by an American leader in nearly a decade, following Barack Obama’s visit to Ethiopia and Kenya in 2015.

In a statement on X, Biden said he will “underscore the enduring importance of the US-Angola relationship” during his three-day visit to the oil-rich Southern African nation, which began on Monday.

“While there, we will address a range of global challenges and I will reaffirm my commitment to deepening the United States’ partnerships in Africa,” he stated.

Before arriving in Angola, Biden made a brief stop on the Atlantic island nation of Cape Verde and discussed strengthening ties with the state’s prime minister, Ulisses Correia e Silva.

The visit comes just weeks before Biden is replaced in office by President-elect Donald Trump, who will take over on January 20 amid uncertainty about Washington’s relations with countries on a continent where China’s influence is growing.

READ MORE: Biden promises return to Angola

Biden pledged to visit Angola when he hosted the country’s president, Joao Lourenco, at the White House in late 2023. During that meeting, the US leader reiterated his commitment to revamping ties with Africa while also promoting major American investments in the continent. He had planned to visit Africa last year after reviving the US-Africa Leaders Summit in December 2022.

This week’s trip will reportedly focus primarily on the Lobito Corridor rail project, which connects Angola to Zambia’s Copperbelt Province and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo). Washington has reportedly invested more than $3 billion in the 1,300-km railway and related projects, as it aims to expand US presence in a region rich in critical minerals such as cobalt and lithium, which are required for the manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles.

The corridor, a flagship initiative of the Biden administration, is widely regarded as Washington’s attempt to compete with Beijing, which has dominated infrastructure investment in Africa for decades through the China Belt and Road Initiative. In November last year, Angola launched a major Chinese-built international aviation hub, 40km southeast of the capital, Luanda, at an estimated cost of more than $3 billion.

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With the change of government, it is unclear whether Trump will continue with the Lobito project.

“The Biden administration has invested heavily in US influence in Angola, and lobbyists are keen to seal the deals they have lobbied for before the change of guard in Washington,” Andrey Maslov, head of the Centre for African Studies at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, told RT.

“For the US, the scramble for the DR Congo involves a competition between two transport corridors – one aimed at China and the Indian Ocean basin, the other at the Angolan port of Lobito and the Atlantic coast. Accordingly, it is the Lobito corridor that the US sees as a pillar of its future presence in Angola and the region as a whole,” he stated.

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