US President Joe Biden expressed his pride in being the first American president to visit Angola as he commenced discussions with President João Lourenço. The talks, held at the presidential palace in Luanda, centered on issues of security and trade.
The US government is supporting a new railway project spanning 1,300 kilometers (810 miles) that will connect an Angolan port to mining regions in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.
This visit to Angola, a nation rich in oil resources, is part of a broader US initiative to enhance trade and investment in Africa, which some analysts interpret as a strategic response to China’s growing influence on the continent.
Biden’s selection of Angola for his inaugural and sole trip to Africa during his presidency is noteworthy, indicating a significant improvement in the bilateral relations between the two countries.
Lourenço welcomed the US president to the country, stating that the visit signifies a significant turning point in their bilateral relationship, which is expected to evolve positively from this day forward.
In his response, Biden expressed his pride in the collaborative efforts made to enhance their partnership to date.
“You’ve heard me say it before… the United States is fully committed to Africa… The future of the world lies in Africa, and specifically in Angola,” the president remarked, referencing his comments from the US-Africa summit held in Washington in 2022.
Following its independence from Portuguese colonial rule in 1975, Angola was closely aligned with China and Russia. However, since Lourenço assumed office in 2017, he has shifted the country towards stronger ties with the United States.
Later on Tuesday, Biden is scheduled to visit a museum dedicated to slavery, acknowledging the more than four million individuals who were forcibly taken from this region of Africa to the Americas. The White House issued a statement on Monday, emphasizing that “together, the United States and Angola recognize the historical atrocities of slavery and its enduring impact, while looking ahead to a promising future of increasingly robust cooperation between our nations.”
