Bloomberg
US President Joe Biden will visit Angola in the first week of December, honoring his pledge to visit the continent of Africa just weeks before leaving office.
Biden will “celebrate the transformation of the US-Angola relationship, recognize Angola’s role as a strategic partner and regional leader and meet with President Lourenco about ways to increase our collaboration on security, health and economic partnerships,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday, announcing the trip.
“The value of strong alliances and partnerships in the defense of freedom has never resonated more in Europe, in Africa and beyond. These visits demonstrate the president’s unwavering commitment to revitalize these relationships for our shared security and prosperity,” she added.
Biden had originally planned to visit Angola earlier in October, but that trip — and one to Germany — were postponed as he decided to remain in the US to handle the preparations and federal response to Hurricane Milton. The president also rescheduled his trip to Germany and is slated to depart Thursday.
Both trips highlight Biden’s priorities of strengthening ties with US allies and expanding US economic and security links in Africa. The president has sought to deepen the US commitment to the continent in a bid to counter claims that Africa has again taken a backseat to other US priorities and to push back on growing Chinese and Russian influence there.
Investment in the Lobito corridor, a railway project that will haul critical minerals from central Africa’s copper belt to an Atlantic port in Angola, is expected to be one of the highlights of Biden’s trip.
Biden has criticized China’s Belt & Road Initiative, calling it a “debt and noose agreement” that saddles developing countries with financial burdens as he seeks to present the US as a better investment partner on the continent.
The Angola trip caps years of diplomacy aimed at bolstering US relationships on the continent, which included hosting counterparts in Washington and deploying top administration figures to Africa.
Biden hosted Lourenço last November at the White House, where he told him that “America is all in on Africa.” In 2022, he hosted the African Leaders Summit in Washington and in May of this year he hosted a state dinner for Kenyan President William Ruto.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is seeking to become the first Black woman president in US history, visited Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia in March 2023 and First Lady Jill Biden has traveled to Namibia and Kenya.
The president’s trip this week to Germany is his first abroad since he withdrew from the presidential race in July and endorsed Harris.