On Tuesday, December 3, 2024, U.S. President Joe Biden reaffirmed America’s long-term engagement with Africa during a meeting with Angolan President João Lourenço in Luanda, marking Biden’s only visit to sub-Saharan Africa during his presidency. This trip fulfills a commitment Biden made to visit the continent before his term ends in January 2025.
During brief remarks at the presidential palace, Biden emphasized the U.S. commitment to Africa, echoing his message from the 2022 U.S.-Africa summit in Washington, where he declared the U.S. was “all in on Africa.” Biden expressed the United States’ readiness to work with African nations on their own terms, noting, “We don’t think we have all the answers, but we’re prepared to hear your answers to the needs you have, particularly around international debt financing.”
President Lourenço highlighted Angola’s desire to strengthen its ties with the U.S., particularly in attracting foreign investment and enhancing defense and security cooperation, including joint military exercises and collaboration in the Gulf of Guinea and the South Atlantic. He also praised U.S. investments in Angola’s oil and gas sector and infrastructure projects such as grain silos and logistics.
“We’re going to move beyond Cold War relations, where we weren’t always aligned, and make a turning point in relations between our two countries,” Lourenço said, referencing U.S. support for one of the factions in Angola’s lengthy civil war, a conflict that had elements of a Cold War proxy battle.
Biden’s trip also focuses on the Lobito Corridor, a U.S.-backed railway project designed to facilitate the export of critical minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to the Atlantic coast. While Biden’s presidency is nearing its conclusion, officials suggest that President-elect Donald Trump will likely continue support for the corridor when he returns to the White House.
Despite Biden’s pledges, U.S. influence in Africa has waned during his administration, as China and Russia have increased their involvement on the continent. The incoming Trump administration will need to address these shifting dynamics and the growing threat of jihadist insurgencies in Africa.
Later on Tuesday, Biden visited Angola’s National Museum of Slavery, reflecting on the shared history between the two nations in the transatlantic slave trade. The museum is located in a 17th-century chapel where enslaved Africans were baptized before being shipped to the Americas. The first Africans brought to the British colonies in Virginia in 1619 were captured in Angola. Over 4 million Angolans were forcibly transported to the Americas, with most heading to Brazil, while others were sent to what is now the United States.
Biden’s visit included an appearance by Wanda Tucker, a descendant of William Tucker, the first enslaved child born in the U.S. whose parents were brought to Virginia from Angola aboard the Portuguese ship White Lion in August 1619. The museum, formerly owned by one of the largest enslavers on the African coast, still houses objects used to punish and torture enslaved people, including shackles and iron weights. The U.S. is contributing a $229,000 grant to aid in the museum’s restoration.
Though Biden is not expected to discuss U.S. reparations for the transatlantic slave trade during his trip, the visit highlights ongoing racial disparities in the U.S. Nearly 160 years after slavery’s abolition, significant wealth gaps persist between white and Black Americans, with political debates centered around issues of diversity, equity, and the country’s racial history.
(Reuters)
