In the first visit to Angola by a United States leader, President Joe Biden on Tuesday promoted billions of dollars in investments in the sub-Saharan nation and will speak at a slavery museum, where he will acknowledge the human trafficking that once occurred. linked the economies of both countries.
“The United States is fully committed to Africa”Biden told Angolan President João Lourenço, who called Biden’s visit a key turning point in US-Angola relations since the Cold War.
However, even though the visit aimed to counter China’s influence on the African continent, with more than 1.4 billion inhabitants, by showing a US commitment of $3 billion for the redevelopment of the Lobito Corridor railway linking Zambia, Congo and Angola, China announced its own move.
The corridor, which runs through southern Africa, aims to facilitate the transportation of raw materials for export and promote the presence of the United States in a region rich in minerals essential for the manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles, electronic devices and technologies. clean energy.
China has already invested heavily in mining and processing African minerals, and on Tuesday announced a ban on exports to the United States of gallium, germanium, antimony and other high-tech materials. The announcement came a day after the United States expanded its list of Chinese technology companies subject to controls.
For years, the United States has built relationships in Africa through trade, security and humanitarian aid. The 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) railway upgrade is different, and is colored by China’s Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure strategy in Africa and other parts of the world.
Biden will visit the coastal city of Lobito on Wednesday to see the exit of the corridor to the Atlantic Ocean. The project has also attracted financing from the European Union, the group of seven, made up of major industrialized countries, a Western-led private consortium, and several African banks.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said completion of the corridor “will take years, but a lot of work has already been done.”
That means much of it may fall to Biden’s successor, Donald Trump, who takes office on January 20.
When asked if the project could continue without Trump’s support, Kirby said the Biden administration hopes “that they too see the value, that they see how it will help drive a safer, more prosperous, more economically stable continent.” .
Kirby also insisted that the corridor is about more than simply trying to outdo Beijing geopolitically.
“We are not asking countries to choose between us and Russia and China. We simply look for reliable, sustainable and verifiable investment opportunities that the people of Angola and the continent can trust,” he said.
(with information from AP)
