US President Joe Biden (3rd R) walks on the red carpet next to Angola Foreign Affairs Minister Tete Antonio (2nd R) upon his arrival at the Quatro de Fevereiro Luanda International Airport in Luanda on December 2, 2024. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
Luanda: Joe Biden arrived in Angola Monday on his first and only trip to sub-Saharan Africa as president that is intended to underline US ambitions in Africa amid significant investment from China.
The US leader, who hands over to Donald Trump on January 20, is due on Tuesday to meet Angolan President Joao Lourenco in the capital Luanda and to deliver remarks at the National Slavery Museum.
On Wednesday, the 82-year-old is due to travel to Lobito, another port city about 500 kilometres (310 miles) south of Luanda, to highlight US investments in the region.
The port is at the heart of the Lobito Corridor, a massive infrastructure project which has received loans from the United States, the European Union and others.
In anticipation of Biden's visit, the Angolan government declared December 3 and 4 public holidays and deployed heavy security across Luanda, a city of some 9.5 million people.
With the trip, Biden will be fulfilling a promise made in late 2022 to visit sub-Saharan Africa. He will also be seeking to boost the US presence on the continent as China boosts its investment.
"It's a historic visit, not just because he's the first time a US President has visited Angola, but because it's really emblematic of President Biden's priority to strengthen global alliances and partnerships, and really of our strategic approach when it comes to US-Africa policy," John Kirby, the White House national security communications advisor, told reporters Monday.
With Biden carrying little political weight so close to the end of his term, the visit risks being overshadowed by his pardon on Sunday of his son Hunter on criminal cases related to tax evasion and the purchase of a firearm.
