U.S. President Joe Biden emphasized lasting engagement with Africa during his first and only visit to sub-Saharan Africa as president, meeting with Angolan President João Lourenço in Luanda on Tuesday. Biden’s trip, coming just weeks before his term ends in January, marked a symbolic effort to strengthen U.S.-Africa ties and fulfill a commitment he made earlier in his presidency.
Speaking at Angola’s presidential palace, Biden reiterated a message of partnership on Africa’s terms, echoing sentiments from the U.S.-Africa summit in December 2022. “We’re all in on Africa,” Biden stated, emphasizing the United States’ willingness to listen to African priorities. “We don’t think we have all the answers, but we’re prepared to hear your answers to the needs you have.”
Biden’s visit reflects his administration’s broader effort to reassert U.S. influence in Africa amid growing partnerships between the continent and powers like China and Russia.
Strengthening U.S.-Angola Relations
President Lourenço welcomed Biden’s visit, calling for deeper collaboration in areas including foreign investment, defense, and security. He highlighted the importance of U.S. investments in Angola’s oil and gas sector and other infrastructure projects such as grain silos and logistics hubs.
“We’re going to move beyond Cold War relations, where we weren’t always aligned, and make a turning point in relations between the two countries,” Lourenço said, referencing historical tensions during Angola’s civil war, a conflict partly fueled by U.S.-Soviet rivalry.
Biden’s discussions also focused on the Lobito Corridor, a U.S.-backed railway project aimed at boosting critical mineral exports from the Democratic Republic of Congo. U.S. officials suggested that the incoming Trump administration would likely continue to support the project.
Reflecting on the Legacy of Slavery
Later in the day, Biden visited Angola’s National Museum of Slavery, a solemn acknowledgment of the transatlantic slave trade that saw 4 million Angolans forcibly transported to the Americas. Among the enslaved were ancestors of Wanda Tucker, a descendant of William Tucker, the first child born into
