President Joe Biden arrived in Angola on Monday for his first-ever presidential visit to sub-Saharan Africa. He was warmly welcomed as thousands lined the capital’s streets, Luanda.
This historic trip follows a brief stop in Cape Verde, where Biden met privately with Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva. In Angola, Biden plans to meet with President João Lourenço, visit the National Slavery Museum, and inspect the Lobito rail project in the port city.
Biden’s visit comes as his presidency nears its end, with Republican Donald Trump set to take office on January 20. The trip had been anticipated since Biden pledged to visit Africa after revitalising the U.S.-Africa Summit in December 2022.
However, it was delayed multiple times, first to 2024 and later pushed back in October due to Hurricane Milton, fueling African concerns about the continent’s low priority in Washington’s foreign policy. The last sitting U.S. president to visit sub-Saharan Africa was Barack Obama in 2015, although Biden did attend a climate summit in Egypt in 2022.
National security spokesman John Kirby defended the timing of the visit, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that the trip was part of a long-term commitment. He noted that high-level administration officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris, had visited Africa earlier. “This is something he’s been focused on since he became president,” Kirby emphasised, pushing back against any suggestion that the visit was a last-minute gesture.
Biden’s visit highlights a critical area for U.S.-China competition: Africa’s wealth in vital minerals. China currently dominates the continent’s mineral sector, especially in countries like Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which supply much of the world’s cobalt. The Biden administration has responded with a new infrastructure initiative centred around the Lobito Corridor, a rail project designed to connect the mineral-rich regions of Zambia and Congo to Angola’s Atlantic port. With an estimated cost of $3 billion, this plan is backed by the U.S., the EU, the Group of Seven (G7) nations, private Western investors, and African banks.
The Lobito project directly responds to China’s Belt and Road initiative and is a crucial pillar of Biden’s broader foreign policy strategy for Africa. However, the future of such initiatives remains uncertain, especially with the looming prospect of a Trump administration.
Mvemba Dizolele, director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, remarked, “President Biden is no longer the story; even African leaders are focused on Donald Trump.”
The Lobito Corridor is an ambitious project extending the current rail system from Zambia and Congo to Angola. Eventually, it plans to connect to Tanzania, forming a coast-to-coast railway link across Africa.
Although Biden’s administration has called the project a “game-changer” for U.S. investment in Africa, its success is not guaranteed, particularly as China maintains dominance in the mining sectors of Zambia and Congo. In Congo, where China controls a significant portion of the cobalt industry, much of the mineral is exported to support China’s critical supply chains.
Despite the challenges, the U.S. has made notable diplomatic strides in Angola. A Western-led consortium won the bid to redevelop the Lobito railway in 2022, edging out Chinese competitors, marking a rare victory for American influence in a country traditionally aligned with Beijing. This success is partly attributed to Biden’s efforts to improve relations with Angola, which had been strained in the past, particularly during the U.S.-backed conflict in Angola’s civil war. Last year, U.S.-Angola trade reached $1.77 billion, with the U.S. also strengthening its strategic presence in the region.
During his visit, Biden is expected to announce new health, agribusiness, and security cooperation initiatives in addition to the Lobito Corridor. White House officials have emphasised that this trip underscores the evolving U.S.-Angola relationship, which Biden’s remarks in the country will highlight. Frances Brown, a senior official on African affairs at the National Security Council, called the visit “a testament to the remarkable evolution of the U.S.-Angola relationship.”
However, Biden’s trip is not without controversy. Human rights organisations have used the visit to criticise Angola’s government under President Lourenço, pointing to its increasingly authoritarian practices. The imprisonment and alleged torture of political opponents, as well as the passage of laws that restrict civil freedoms, have drawn scrutiny, raising questions about the human rights standards in U.S.-Africa relations. Despite these concerns, the visit underscores the complexity of America’s diplomatic engagement with Africa, balancing strategic and economic interests with human rights advocacy.
