U.S. President Joe Biden held talks with his Angolan counterpart João Lourenço in Luanda on Tuesday during the start of his visit to the sub-Sahara African nation.
“I’m very proud to be the first American president to visit Angola and I’m deeply proud of everything we have done together to transform our partnership thus far ,” Biden told Angolan President João Lourenço, who called Biden’s visit a key turning point in U.S.-Angola relations dating back to the Cold War.
But even as the visit was meant to counter China’s influence on the African continent of over 1.4 billion people by showcasing a U.S. commitment of $3 billion for the Lobito Corridor railway redevelopment linking Zambia, Congo and Angola, China announced its own move.
The corridor is meant to make it easier to move raw materials for export and advance the U.S. presence in a region rich in critical minerals used in batteries for electric vehicles, electronic devices and clean energy technologies.
China already has heavy investments in mining and processing African minerals, and on Tuesday it announced it is banning exports to the United States of gallium, germanium, antimony and other high-tech materials.
The announcement came a day after the U.S. expanded its list of Chinese technology companies subject to controls.
The U.S. for years has built relations in Africa through trade, security and humanitarian aid. The 800-mile (1,300-kilometer) railway upgrade is different, with shades of China’s Belt and Road infrastructure strategy in Africa and other parts of the world.
Biden will visit the Angolan coastal city of Lobito on Wednesday for a look at the corridor’s Atlantic Ocean outlet.
The project also has drawn financing from the European Union, the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations, a Western-led private consortium and African banks.
Biden will also visit Angola’s National Slavery Museum, where he plans to give a speech acknowledging the history of slavery but also looking forward to a future that benefits both nations.//
STORYLINE:
U.S. President Joe Biden was welcomed by his Angolan counterpart João Lourenço on Tuesday during the start of his visit to the sub-Sahara African nation.
Biden is using the first trip to Angola by a U.S. president to promote Washington’s investments in the country and to see a slavery museum where he’ll acknowledge the trafficking of human beings that once linked the nations’ economies.
A centrepiece of his visit is the U.S. commitment of $3 billion for the Lobito Corridor, a railway redevelopment linking Zambia, Congo and Angola that is meant to make it easier to move raw materials in the continent and for export.
The U.S. has for years built relations in Africa through trade, security and humanitarian aid.
The 800-mile (1,300-kilometer) railway upgrade is a different move and has shades of China’s Belt and Road infrastructure strategy in Africa and other parts of the world.
Biden will also visit Angola’s National Slavery Museum, where he plans to give a speech acknowledging the history of slavery but also looking forward to a future that benefits both nations.
Source: Africanews
