President Joe Biden will make his long-awaited visit to Africa on Monday, December 2, 2024, to showcase a US-backed railway project that goes across three countries.
Biden’s three-day trip to Angola will promote the Lobito Corridor development in Zambia, Congo, and Angola that he has pushed as a new approach in countering some of China’s influence and dominance of Africa’s critical minerals.
According to E.D. Wala Chabala, an independent economic policy and strategy consultant, if the US has a lead in the green economy, they are most likely going to maintain their global leadership in the international economy.
“If they don’t maintain that, you could argue that the Chinese are likely to then come and overtake the US economy,” said Chabala.
Biden’s trip delivers on a pledge to go to Africa during his presidency but comes right at the end of his term, and the future of the Lobito project depends on the incoming administration of Donald Trump.
Some analysts say it could also fit Trump’s vision to blunt China.
Biden promised to visit Africa after reviving the US-Africa Summit for the first time in nearly a decade in December 2022.
The trip was kicked back to 2024 and delayed again in October because of Hurricane Milton, reinforcing a sentiment among Africans that their continent is low priority for the United States.
Yet many are optimistic that the Lobito project, which is referred to as one of Biden’s signature initiatives, will survive a change of administration, given it goes some way to blunting China.