Joe Biden Fulfils Promise to Visit Africa, Looks To Counter China’s Deepening Inroads In The Region
President Joe Biden is set to fulfill a two-year commitment by visiting Africa. He embarks on this journey on Sunday night, with the first stop being Angola.
The trip aims to showcase the United States’ investments in Africa, especially as China’s presence and influence in the region continue to grow.
Biden’s three-day visit to Angola is significant, especially since it comes at the end of his presidency, just as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take over in January. This visit provides Biden with a fresh chance to strengthen ties with an important partner in Africa, despite Trump’s previous negative remarks about African countries during his first term.
When Biden arrives in the capital city of Luanda on Monday, it will mark the first time a sitting U.S. president has visited sub-Saharan Africa since 2015, when Barack Obama visited Kenya and Ethiopia. It will also be a historic moment as it’s the first visit by a U.S. president to Angola, a country Biden has worked to build closer relations with in recent years.
Initially, Biden had planned to travel to Angola last October, but those plans were delayed due to two major hurricanes impacting the United States. During a summit with African leaders in Washington in 2022, he had promised to visit the continent, but he did not meet that deadline.
One of the key focuses of Biden’s trip will be a major rail project called the Lobito Corridor. This project, which is 1,300 kilometers long, is supported by both the United States and Europe. It aims to help transport vital minerals from the heart of Africa to Angola’s western port for exporting.
This initiative is part of Biden’s broader goal to boost investments in Africa in response to China’s growing influence, which has now surpassed that of the U.S. Over the last decade, China has poured billions into various infrastructure projects across the continent through its Belt and Road initiative. Recently, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced an additional $50 billion in financial and military aid to African nations.
[CNN]
