Joe Biden on Tuesday used the first visit to Angola by a U.S. president to promote billions of dollars of commitments to the sub-Saharan African nation and speak at a slavery museum, where he’ll acknowledge the trafficking that once linked the nations’ economies.
“The United States is all in on Africa,” Biden told Angolan President João Lourenço, who called Biden’s visit a key turning point in U.S.-Angola relations dating back to the Cold War.
But even as the trip was meant to counter China’s influence on the African continent of over 1.4 billion people by showcasing a U.S. commitment of $3 billion for the Lobito Corridor railway redevelopment linking Zambia, Congo and Angola, China announced its own move.
The corridor across southern Africa is meant to make it easier to move raw materials for export and advance the U.S. presence in a region rich in critical minerals used in batteries for electric vehicles, electronic devices and clean energy technologies.
China already has heavy investments in mining and processing African minerals, and on Tuesday it announced it is banning exports to the United States of gallium, germanium, antimony and other high-tech materials. It came a day after the U.S. expanded its list of Chinese technology companies subject to controls.
The U.S. for years has built relations in Africa through trade, security and humanitarian aid. The 800-mile railway upgrade is different, with shades of China’s Belt and Road infrastructure strategy in Africa and other parts of the world.
Biden will visit the coastal city of Lobito on Wednesday for a look at the corridor’s Atlantic Ocean outlet. The project also has drawn financing from the European Union, the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations, a Western-led private consortium and African banks.
It was not clear how much of the U.S. commitments had been delivered and how much will depend on the Trump administration.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said the corridor’s completion is “going to take years.” That means much of it may fall to Donald Trump, who takes office Jan. 20.
Asked whether the project could proceed without Trump’s support, Kirby said the Biden administration’s hopes “that they see the value too, that they see how it will help drive a more secure, more prosperous, more economically stable continent.”
Kirby also insisted that the corridor was about more than simply trying to outpace Beijing.
“We’re not asking countries to choose between us and Russia and China. We’re simply looking for reliable, sustainable, verifiable investment opportunities that the people of Angola and the people of the continent can rely on,” he said.
One Angolan, 19-year-old Ladislau Ngola, called Biden’s visit “very important for our country as the Lobito Corridor will create lots of jobs for young people.” Julião Oliveira said ”Africa in general” would benefit, too.
The rainy streets of the capital, Luanda, had a heavy presence of soldiers but few civilians — a striking change from Biden’s arrival on Monday, when cheering onlookers lined his route. Authorities on Tuesday encouraged people to stay home to clear up traffic. As the motorcade passed through outer neighborhoods, crowds waved from rooftops or intersections.
Biden and Lourenço briefly addressed reporters before a closed-door meeting. Biden ignored questions about his decision to issue a pardon for his son after previously pledging not to, and laughed and joked to the Angolan delegation, “Welcome to America.”
He also told Lourenço while pledging to use the trip to listen: “We don’t think, because we’re bigger and more powerful, that we’re smarter. We don’t think we have all the answers.”
Angola’s president said he’d like to see a public-private partnership to increase energy production. He praised Biden’s “vision and leadership” on the Lobito Corridor, saying it would “always be remembered.”
After the meeting, a senior U.S. administration official said China didn’t come up. The official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss a meeting that was not public, said Trump wasn’t mentioned much because Biden did not want to be seen as speaking for him.
The official also said Biden’s visit to Lobito will be joined by the presidents of Zambia and Congo.
Biden had promised to visit Africa last year, after reviving the U.S.-Africa Summit in 2022. But the trip was delayed until this year and pushed back again this October because of Hurricane Milton — reinforcing a sentiment among Africans that their continent is still a low priority for Washington.
The last U.S. president to visit sub-Saharan Africa was Barack Obama in 2015. Biden attended a United Nations climate summit in Egypt in North Africa in 2022.
Later Tuesday, Biden toured Angola’s National Slavery Museum. The site was once the headquarters of the Capela da Casa Grande, a 17th century temple where slaves were baptized before boarding ships that took them to America.
Kirby said Biden will give a speech there acknowledging “both the horrific history of slavery that has connected our two nations, but also looks forward to a future predicated on a shared vision that benefits both our people.”
Biden also met briefly with Wanda Tucker, a descendant of William Tucker, the first enslaved child born in the United States, the White House said. William Tucker’s parents were brought to colonial Virginia from Angola in August 1619 aboard a Portuguese ship. Tucker was set to attend Biden’s speech.
Weissert writes for the Associated Press. AP journalist John Karlos in Luanda, Angola, contributed to this report.