Biden leverages massive economic investment in Angola railway, despite not visiting the African Continent
By Mona Austin
(TSN): "America is all in on Africa, all in on Angola" U.S. Pres. Joe Biden stated Thursday after announcing the biggest rail investment in Africa to date. The U.S. will invest in building a far-reaching ground transportation hub. In a bilateral meeting with his Angolan counterpart, President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço of Angola, Biden announced, "We'll be mobilizing more than a million dollar -- $1 billion for railway lines that extend from Angola to Zambia to the DRC, and ultimately to the Indian Ocean, connecting the continent for the first time from east to west."
Inviting deeper ties during an election season while foreign affairs is strained by two wars, is an exercise in global strength for Biden who says he wants to make the 1 billion people in Africa more accessible to the rest of the world.
Pres. Lourenço said, speaking in Portuguese through and interpreter, "I would like to seize this opportunity to thank you, President Joe Biden, for having been the first U.S. president to change the cooperation paradigm between the U.S. and the African continent."
Noting the U.S. 's previous commitment to green energy projects in Africa he expressed interest in extending the partnership into various other areas specifically for his country such as defense, security, telecommunications and energy.
The rail announcement is a spoke of the wheel of broader engagement opportunities with Angola. Said Biden, "We're also investing nearly $1 billion more in Africa for a number of items and solar energy projects that will help Angola generate 75 percent of its clean energy by 2025 -- 75 percent. the agricultural infrastructure projects are going to help Angola be a net food exporter, exporting food by 2027."
The Angolan leader welcomed the new growth opportunities.
"This is a new page that has been turned in the U.S.-Africa relations." The country is pivoting from ties with Russia and China.
The Biden Administration is pursuing projects throughout the continent. Initiating the US Africa Summit last December that produce significant outcomes.
Biden has yet to visit any part of Africa as he promised he would by the end of this year despite several foreign affairs engagements abroad. Several Biden Administration officials have visited Africa, however.
The economic deposits in Angola, a land rich in agriculture and untapped resources such as diamonds, gold and oil and gas, are key to leveraging the U.S. footprint in other parts of the Continent. China is currently the top investor of capital in Africa, with the U.S. being third after France.
At the end of the meeting the leaders agreed to Biden visiting in the future. "I have been there and I will be back," the POTUS said in the Oval Office.
