United States President, Joe Biden has said he is “very proud to be the first American president visiting Angola” at the start of talks with his counterpart João Lourenço.
Discussions at the presidential palace in the capital, Luanda, will be on security and trade.
The United States government is backing a new 1,300km (810-mile) railway project linking an Angolan port with mining areas in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.
The visit to oil-rich Angola is part of America’s effort to focus more on trade and investment in Africa, in what some analysts see as a counter to China’s influence on the continent.
Welcoming Biden, Lourenço described the visit as a turning point in United States-Angola relations.
“I’m deeply proud of everything we have done together to transform our partnership thus far,” Biden said in response.
Angola was firmly in the political orbit of China and Russia after independence from Portuguese colonial rule in 1975, but since taking power in 2017, Lourenço has steered it towards closer relations with America.
Meanwhile, Director, United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), Enoh Ebong joined President Biden in Angola and lead the VIP delegation of senior United States government officials, civil society leaders and Congressional representatives.
The visit underscores the enduring strength and importance of the United States-Angola bilateral relationship and reaffirms the States commitment to deepening its partnerships in Africa.
“We look forward to highlighting the work the Administration has done to implement the U.S. strategy toward Sub-Saharan Africa and how we are delivering on the commitments made at the America-Africa Leaders Summit in December 2022.
“This includes concrete action across the United States government to develop the Lobito Trans-Africa Corridor, for which Angola provides a gateway to global markets,” he added.
During the visit, Director Ebong will highlight the Agency’s work to help mobilise private sector capital to advance the development of the Corridor, a priority under the G7+ Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment.
In support of Angola and other countries in the region, USTDA has funded a total of 12 activities to help unlock several billion dollars in financing and deploy innovative United States technologies for the development of transportation, digital and energy infrastructure projects along the Corridor.
Among these projects is a USTDA-funded technical assistance grant to the Africa Finance Corporation, supporting the development of a 485-mile rail line linking Angola’s Port of Lobito with Zambia’s Copperbelt region.