Joe Biden’s visit to Angola from 2 to 4 December 2024 marked his first trip to Africa as President of the United States. It was also the first visit by an American leader to Angola since it gained independence from Portugal in 1975.
The United States Playing Catch-up with China in Africa
Despite repeated promises by the American president to prioritise relations with Africa, as noted by the Turkish outlet TRT World, US influence on the continent has significantly diminished. Washington, for example, lost its strategically important military base in Niger and lags far behind China in the competition for access to Africa’s critical mineral resources, which are vital for US national security.
This visit took place as the United States is belatedly attempting to catch up in its rivalry with China, which has spent decades expanding its influence on the continent – primarily through tens of billions of dollars invested in infrastructure projects. China now dominates the mining sector in the region, as highlighted by Bloomberg.
The visit also occurred amidst worsening Sino-American relations. On Tuesday, 3 December, in response to the United States expanding its restrictions on Chinese technology companies, Beijing announced a ban on exporting gallium, germanium, antimony, and other high-tech materials to the US.
Ahead of Joe Biden’s visit, Angolan President João Lourenço, in an interview with The New York Times, emphasised that Angola has always sought close relations with the United States based on mutually beneficial cooperation. He reasoned that the US, as the leading global power, is a nation with which every country aspires to maintain positive relations.
He emphasised that Angola’s goal is to attract American investments to develop its economy and facilitate the access of Angolan goods to the American market.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the negotiations, João Lourenço expressed hope that these discussions would lead to an expansion of cooperation in the areas of defence and security. This would particularly include the training of military personnel, the technical modernisation of Angola’s armed forces, and the conduct of joint military exercises.
According to a senior United States administration official quoted in the report, “Angola is our indispensable partner in ensuring regional security and addressing global challenges, from maritime security to combating transnational crime”.
A White House press release following President Biden’s visit to Angola highlighted the importance of transforming US-Angolan relations. The two presidents discussed the development of trade and investment ties while also noting the strengthening of cooperation in defence and security.
In an interview with journalists, Angolan President João Lourenço remarked, “Our troubled past is now behind us. This is also a turning point in our relations, which will undoubtedly gain new momentum from today”.
The primary objective of the American president’s visit, however, was to advance the so-called “Lobito Corridor” project. In its initial phase, this project involves the modernisation of the 1,344-kilometre Benguela railway, which connects Angola’s Lobito port with the Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The second phase will see its extension to the “Copperbelt” region in Zambia.
It is anticipated that this initiative will reduce the transportation time of mineral resources from these countries – traditionally exported by road through South Africa – from 45 days to 45 hours. Additionally, it will redirect exports through Angola’s Atlantic-facing Lobito port to markets in the United States and Europe.
The contract for this project, awarded to a consortium of Western companies, was presented by Washington as a victory over China. One of President Biden’s aims during his visit was to demonstrate to African partners the effectiveness of the American strategy.
However, as noted by the Kenyan newspaper The Standard, the primary motive behind Biden’s visit was to counter China’s rapidly growing influence on the continent. China has demonstrated to Africa a path towards industrialisation and economic modernisation without imposing stringent conditions, unlike many Western partners and their international organisations.
Although the Biden administration described this project as a “turning point” in Washington’s investment policy in Africa, the Times of India notes that for the United States, it is merely a starting point in its competition with Beijing, as China has long dominated the mining industries of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
According to the United States Congress, 80 percent of copper mines in the DRC are under Chinese control, and China extracts 85 percent of the country’s rare earth minerals, including 76 percent of its cobalt.
As emphasised by France 24, the “Lobito Corridor” project is one of the primary tools for the United States and its allies in their geopolitical struggle against China. The latter controls the mines and quarries in the DRC and Zambia, where critical minerals essential for modern industries are extracted, and it remains the largest investor in their economies.
The Biden administration hopes that the railway corridor will counteract China’s growing influence in Africa, particularly in this region. However, during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held in Beijing this September, China signed an agreement with Tanzania and Zambia to modernise the TAZARA railway line, which runs eastwards from Zambia to Dar es Salaam on the Indian Ocean coast.
Constructed by Chinese workers and engineers in the 1970s, this railway has long been in disrepair. As noted by the Irish Examiner, its reconstruction is viewed by experts as Beijing’s response to the American “Lobito Corridor” project.
The “Lobito Corridor” as a “Neo-Colonial” Project by the United States and Western Countries
Experts from the United States Institute of Peace consider the “Lobito Corridor” project to be a risky endeavour. This is due to the immense financial costs associated with its implementation, estimated at $11 billion by the Turkish agency Anadolu. The project’s viability depends not only on the transportation of cobalt and copper but also on the production and transportation of a wide range of goods from the region, which, in turn, requires additional investments in energy, agriculture, telecommunications, and other sectors.
According to DRC President Félix Tshisekedi, the 1,739-kilometre railway connecting the mining regions of the DRC and Zambia to the port of Lobito is designed to transport 20 million tonnes of cargo annually by 2030.
In essence, its profitability will largely depend on a significant influx of private investments into the region. At the same time, the three participating countries –Angola, the DRC, and Zambia – will need to strengthen their intergovernmental partnership to the extent that they can establish a unified legal framework for the successful development of the project.
Furthermore, these nations will need to make considerable efforts to stabilise the situation in eastern DRC, where the majority of the country’s strategic mineral deposits are located. These areas have been the site of fierce conflict for over three decades between numerous armed groups supported by neighbouring states, particularly Rwanda.
Additionally, the exact completion date for the modernisation of the Benguela railway has not been announced, and the second phase of the project, which involves connecting it to a new line in Zambia, remains in the planning stages. Construction of the Zambian section is not expected to begin before 2026. According to some American officials, the entire project may extend until the end of this decade. As stated by John Kirby, the White House National Security Advisor, its completion will take “years”.
The project’s current focus on merely transporting raw materials from the region to markets in North and South America and Western countries, without local processing or the creation of added value, could, as the Times of India observes, hinder its progress.
In this new “neocolonial endeavour”, local communities, as highlighted by Carib Daily News, see little tangible benefit for themselves. They view it as a continuation of the long-standing practice of exploiting Africa’s natural resources by foreign companies, which is often accompanied by deforestation, water pollution, and the overall destruction of local habitats.
The future implementation of this project will also heavily depend on the stance of the incoming United States administration led by Donald Trump. During his first term, he paid little attention to Africa. Despite the outgoing Biden administration’s efforts to enhance ties with Angola, it should be noted, as the American publication The Diplomat observes, that Africa remains a secondary partner for the United States foreign policy establishment.
The Washington Times, on the other hand, believes that presenting this project as a key anti-China tool in US policy on the continent may provide the new White House administration with a strong rationale to continue its funding. This is particularly true given that China is viewed as the United States’ primary geopolitical competitor.
Nevertheless, as Angola is unlikely to sever its deeply entrenched cooperation with China, the United States will need to offer Luanda far more advantageous partnership terms than Beijing currently provides, according to experts from the United States Institute of Peace.
Viktor Goncharov, African expert, PhD in Economics
