After four years in office, U.S. President Joe Biden who is in the final days of his presidency will on Sunday depart for Angola, fulfilling a promise he made two years ago to visit Africa.
The visit will also mark the first one to Sub Saharan Africa by a sitting U.S president in nine years.
The last visit was by the then-President Barack Obama who visited Kenya and Ethiopia in 2015.
The visit, coming at the tail end of his presidency will cement historical ties between the two nations, with U.S flexing its muscles even as China also looks into expanding its influence in Africa.
As Biden lands in Luanda for his three-day visit to oil-rich Angola investments in the Lobito Corridor, an 800-mile railway project will be among the highlights of the visit.
Growing influence in Africa
The U.S.-backed railway project offers a fast and efficient route for exports to the west and links the resource-rich Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia to the Angolan port of Lobito on the Atlantic Ocean.
China’s growing influence in the region is understood to be a cause of concern for the West, with the Asian nation emerging as the top player in the mineral-rich Congo.
China’s investment in the region has outpaced the U.S., with Beijing splashing billions of dollars in infrastructure projects through its Belt and Road Initiative.
President Xi Jinping of China pledged $50 billion in financial support for the continent as well as military aid which will further expand China’s growing influence.
Congo has vast supplies of copper, cobalt and other minerals which are a key component of batteries and other electronics with both Western nations and China keen on not being locked out of this critical supply.
U.S., Russia & China's influence in Africa
Russia has also attempted to expand its influence in Africa, with the West moving in to reclaim its foothold.
Angola's transport minister, Ricardo Viegas d’Abreu explained in a recent interview that China made inroads because the West was not paying attention to Africa.
China has only gained prominence because Western countries have probably not been paying much attention to Africa.
China signs deal with Tanzania and Zambia to revive rival railway line
In response to the Lobito Corridor deal, China inked a deal with Tanzania and Zambia in September to revive the rival railway connecting the two countries to Africa's eastern coast along the Indian ocean.
The deal was in a bid to ensure that Beijing is not locked out of the lucrative mineral trade and crucial resources coming from central Africa, offering an efficient and short route to get supplies to China via the Indian Ocean.
With power set to change hands on January 20, 2025 when President-elect Donald Trump returns to White House, succeeding Biden, building on the gains made under Biden is an area that the Trump’s administration may want to focus on.