LUANDA, Angola — President Joe Biden will make history Monday when he becomes the first U.S. head of state to visit the West African nation of Angola, where he will showcase U.S.-backed infrastructure projects designed to connect three countries.
On his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa, which comes at the end of his term in the White House, Biden will hold a bilateral meeting with his Angolan counterpart, João Lourenço, in the capital Luanda. He will also give a speech at the country’s National Slavery Museum.
Biden will also announce initiatives related to global cooperation on health and security, among other things, a senior administration official said Friday.
The president will also fly about 300 miles (480 kilometers) from Luanda to the municipality of Lobito, where a port is the terminus of a railway line his government has poured billions of dollars into in an effort to redevelop and expand a transit system for precious minerals.
“We are preparing the way to eventually reach all the way to Tanzania and connect the Atlantic and Indian Oceans,” a second government official said Friday of the system that also runs through Zambia and Congo.
The project aims to boost the U.S. presence in the region, which is rich in crucial minerals used in electronic devices, vehicles and clean energy technologies and is a key field for U.S. competition with China.
The second official also acknowledged that the government’s efforts appear to be playing catch-up with China, which has invested billions across Africa.
Two years ago, China owned 72% of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s cobalt and copper mines, according to the China Global South Project, a U.S.-based nonprofit that tracks Chinese efforts in Africa.
Biden, who stopped en route at the Atlantic Ocean island of Cabo Verde off the west coast of Africa to meet with Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva, had to postpone his visits in the wake of Hurricane Milton so he could oversee the federal government. response to the disaster.
American investments, the senior administration official said, boost economic growth for people in Africa in a way that Chinese spending does not.
“It does this by focusing on attracting investments from high-standard companies that are committed to high standards in labor, gender equality, health and environmental stewardship,” the official added.
Carlo Angerer reported from Luanda, Angola, and Aaron Gilchrist from Washington, DC
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
