Race for Africa: Biden to Visit Angola as the Nation's Ties With China are Burgeoning
© AP Photo / Andy Wong
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US President Joe Biden will visit Angola from October 13-15 to “strengthen ties” with Africa and counter China’s growing influence.
Biden's agenda includes discussing economic issues, such as the expansion of the 1,300 km Lobito Corridor railway project to connect the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, with Angolan President Joao Lourenço.
Lobito Corridor: Western Project to Squeeze China Out
The Lobito Corridor linking Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia and Tanzania is pushed by the US to curtail China's influence in southern Africa.
The corridor is designed to run through mineral-rich DRC which boasts large deposits of gold, cobalt, lithium and copper to provide access to the US and Europe to Africa's rare earths and reduce the West's reliance on China for critical mineral supplies.
Since 2022, over $3 billion has been dedicated by the US to the corridor's development.
On September 24, Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosted a Lobito Corridor Roundtable with the African nations participating in the project.
China's Strategic Cooperation with Angola and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Africa
Since the 2010s, China and Angola have been developing cooperation including within the BRI project.
The total investment by Chinese companies in Angola has exceeded $24 billion, according to the Chinese Embassy in Angola. The embassy said China supported up to 2,800 km worth of railway restoration; 20,000 km of roads development; and the construction of 100,000 housing units.
Angola is China's eighth-largest oil supplier. In March, the China National Offshore Corporation started talks with the nation on joint oil exploration.
China and Angola jointly implement agricultural projects, as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of Angola António Francisco de Assis told the Chinese press on September 9.
