Angola, A Key Partner In US Ambitions For Africa

Johannesburg, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Oct, 2024) Joe Biden's choice of Angola as his first trip to Africa as president underscores the influence of the oil-rich country as the focus of one of the biggest US infrastructure projects on the continent in a counterpoint to China's investments.

Biden's October 13-15 visit, which comes just months before his term ends, will centre on a massive multinational project to rehabilitate a 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) railway that will connect mineral-rich inland countries with Angola's Atlantic seaport of Lobito.

The Lobito Corridor will transport resources critical to the global economy, including copper and cobalt, from mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia to the port for export.

The project is a piece in the geopolitical battle between the United States and its allies and China, which owns mines in the DRC and Zambia among an array of investments in the region.

Biden called it "the biggest US rail investment in Africa ever" when he met Angolan President Joao Lourenco at the White House in December.

"For Washington, Angola is an example of an African state that has become less ideological and that is actively diversifying its relations from being overly exposed to China and to a lesser extent Russia," Chatham House Africa programme director Alex Vines said.