Biden: the future of the world is in Angola, the most exciting place in Africa

“The future of the world is here, in Africa, in Angola. It’s the most exciting place in Africa (…) we are Angolans, we are Americans”, said a good-natured Biden during the unprecedented visit, considered historic.

The North American President was received this Tuesday by his Angolan counterpart at the Presidential Palace in Luanda, thus fulfilling his promise to visit Africa before leaving the White House. Joe Bidenreceived with military honors and a 21-gun salute, entered Cidade Alta at around 12:15 with his entourage, waiting for him João Lourenço.

The visit, initially scheduled for October, takes place about a year after Biden received João Lourenço in Washington.

The North American head of state, who arrives in Angola at the end of his term and with uncertainty about the foreign policy of his successor, Donald Trump, with regard to Africa, holds a unprecedented visit considered historic for being the first by a US President to the Portuguese-speaking country.

At the Presidential Palace, issues relating to trade, investment and infrastructure, regional security and stability and deepening cooperation between the two countries were discussed.

Rehabilitation of the Slavery Museum

The North American President evoked the memory of the millions of enslaved Africansincluding many Angolans, and said that the relationship between Angola and the USA is a “lesson for the world”, after completing his last leg of the visit in Luanda at the National Slavery Museum.

The US Government announced a $229,000 fund for rehabilitation of the museum and its support for the candidacy of the Kwanza corridor, route where millions of slaves passed, a World Heritage Site.

In 1619, a ship carrying enslaved Africans captured in Angola and forced to march through a route known as the Kwanza Corridor landed in Hampton, Virginia, It is estimated that there are currently around 12 million Americans of Angolan descent.

“The United States supports Angola’s candidacy for the Kwanza Corridor to the UNESCO World Heritage list, as a way of looking to the future, reestablishing cultural ties and celebrating the wealth and beauty of Angola,” says a Government note American sent to Lusa.

Founded in 1977, the museum “offers programming that promotes a message of harmony, humanism and respect for human rights” and the funds will be used to restore the building’s exterior and interior galleries.

Friends forever

Angola is the fourth largest trading partner of the United States in sub-Saharan Africawith trade exchange reaching 1.77 billion dollars in 2023 (1.68 billion euros).

In November this year, the two countries established a memorandum of understanding regarding US-Angola Trade and Investment Partnership and the US Department of Commerce is promoting a trade mission to the ports and railways of Sub-Saharan Africa, in 2025, in Angola and South Africa, to present to US companies the potential of these sectors in African markets.

The USA also promoted a mission linked to the agribusinessin February this year, during which 140 meetings were held between businesspeople, with North American participants predicting an increase of 13.3 million in sales over the next 12 months.

USA and Angola also signed agreements to facilitate air connections and bilateral tradethrough the Prosperous Africa initiative, under which business worth US$6.9 billion has been carried out since 2021.

Since 2022, Exim Bank, a North American export support entity, has financed projects in Angola worth 2.9 billion in renewable energy, infrastructure and telecommunications.

According to information from the North American Government to Lusa, this month, the North American Agency for International Development (USAID) will channel another 650 thousand dollars into technical assistance for support the Ministry of Finance in managing financial and debt risks.

Over the past four years, the Treasury Department “has supported Angola’s efforts to reduce debt vulnerabilities through technical assistance”, which has allowed the Angolan Government reprofile domestic debt and lower interest rates.

The document also refers to cooperation in the field of defense, with a new meeting of the Anglo-American Joint Defense Cooperation Committee (DEFCOM) scheduled to be held in Luanda in 2025, after the first meeting in June 2024 at Pentagon.

Since 2020, the United States has spent more than 17 million dollars (16 million euros) on training Angolan military personnelhaving increased annual assistance last year from 500,000 to 600,000 dollars (476,000 to 571,000 euros) and will provide the Angolan marines with eight vessels, the last of which will be delivered in 2025.

The US has also financed humanitarian aid programsdevelopment of strategies for cybersecuritycombating money laundering and terrorism crimes, assistance to refugees and asylum seekers, oceanographic research, combating HIV/AIDS and malariaetc.

According to the US Government, USAID provided almost 415 million dollars (395 million euros) to treat and prevent the disease and trained more than 12 thousand workers, which allowed a 29 percent decrease in malaria deaths in 2023 in provinces covered by the PMI initiative compared to 2020 levels.

The State department is also available to continue financing the promotion of human rightsaccording to the availability of funds and to provide scholarships to Angolan students, as well as other support in the area of ​​Education.

Biden recalls past “ccruel, brutal, dehumanizing”

Biden’s speech focused on the historic connection between the two countries, marked by slaveryand in the millions of dollars that the USA has already invested and is willing to invest in Africa and Angola.

In a good mood, Biden insisted on the North American commitment to Africa, going back to the past to remember the forced march of many men and women born free in Angola, taken as slaves to America and baptized into a foreign faith against their will.

“Cruel, brutal, dehumanizing”said Biden regarding the origin of the nation, stressing that from the civil war to the human rights movement, the history of the USA was marked by racial injustice.

The President of the USA highlighted that he wanted to honor the connection between two peoples and pay homage to generations of Angolans and American families, stressing that it is the duty of great nations to face history, which is why he chose that place to speak.

Regarding the current relationship with Angola, he said that it has evolved from distant to “Stronger than ever today”ensuring that it was their objective to build a strong partnership with the continent of Africa, bringing the dynamism of the American private sector and the experience of the North American government to support the aspirations of African leaders and entrepreneurs.

The North American head of state also said that the US supports increasing Africa’s presence on the UN Security Council at the United Nations and announced more than one billion dollars in humanitarian aid for displaced Africans.

“We know that African leaders or citizens are looking for more than help,” he continued, highlighting that the US wants to expand the relationship in Africa, moving from aid to investment and trade.

Joe Biden considered that No place in Africa is currently more exciting than Angolaparticularly due to the Lobito Corridor, whose financing will be the focus of an international conference, on Wednesday, in Benguela, in which he will participate.

Biden also addressed the partnership between Angola and the United States with regard to supporting peace and security in the region, congratulating João Lourenço for his leadership in mediating regional conflicts and for speaking out against Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Biden, who is in the last weeks of his presidency, told those present that they could applaud her, or not, and added that he was keen to come to Angola because he believes that the future passes through this country and Africa and the history of Angola and of the United States, which had its back during the cold war and now works shoulder to shoulder, “it’s a lesson for the world.”

“We just have to remember who we are: We are Angolans, we are Americans”, he concluded.