In a historic first, President Biden visited Angola, a country in Africa, before the end of his term. During his visit on Wednesday, December 3, he announced over a billion dollars in humanitarian aid to countries south of the Sahara, aiming to increase American influence in Africa.
Biden became the first U.S. President to visit Angola, in what is expected to be his final official trip abroad during his presidency. The visit focuses on emphasizing American efforts to enhance infrastructure investments in countries south of the Sahara to counter China’s control over critical resources in Africa.
Political analyst Edmilson Angelo stated that Biden’s approach is a “perfect stopgap measure” directly responding to China’s influence in the southern African region.
Since gaining independence from Portuguese colonial rule in 1975, Angola has been politically influenced by China and Russia until the incumbent President João Lourenço took office in 2017, gradually shifting towards closer ties with the United States.
Following bilateral talks with President Lourenço in the capital city of Luanda, Biden delivered a speech outside the National Slavery Museum in Belas. He emphasized that the U.S. is the largest provider of humanitarian and development aid globally and pledged to increase such assistance, stating, “We should bear this responsibility as the wealthiest country in the world.”
Biden announced, “Today, I am announcing over $1 billion in new humanitarian aid to help the people of Africa displaced by droughts and food crises.”
According to data compiled by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre in Geneva, the number of internally displaced persons in Africa surged sixfold from 1.1 million in 2009 to 6.3 million in 2023.
In Angola, approximately 79,000 people were displaced due to natural disasters last year.
Biden plans to visit the railway project in Lobito on Wednesday, December 4, with the U.S. intending to invest $3 billion in the project, calling it the “largest foreign railway investment by the United States.”
Once the railway construction is complete, the Lobito Corridor will connect the Atlantic port city with Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, key producers of essential minerals like copper and cobalt required for lithium batteries.
Currently, around 70% of the world’s cobalt comes from the DRC, where approximately 80% of cobalt mines are owned and operated by Chinese companies.
Biden expressed the U.S.’s intention to broaden relationships with all African countries by transitioning from “patrons to partners.”
“We are engaging in a major joint project to bridge infrastructure gaps, benefitting the people of Angola, the entire African continent, Americans, and the world. We will all benefit from this, just as you will,” Biden stated.