In the blistering midday heat at Angola’s largest port, U.S. President Joe Biden beamed Wednesday as he shook hands, one by one, with nine smiling hard-hatted workers. He had journeyed all the way from Washington to meet them at the terminus of an ambitious 1,300-kilometer, U.S.-financed rail line that brings critical minerals out of Africa’s remote interior.
On this December afternoon, there wasn’t much activity: The usually bustling port of Lobito had been cleared of most workers for his visit. A nearby black and red rail engine was still shiny and new, as were the long chains of blue half-containers that stretched behind it.
Still, said a smiling Biden, this is Africa’s future.
"When I launched this project with our G7 partners last year, I said our goal was to build a better future,” Biden said. “And folks, the future is here. It's now. The future is here.”
The U.S. has invested about $4 billion to refurbish the dilapidated cross-continental Lobito Corridor track, which runs from copper-rich Zambia, through mineral-rich Congo and then to the port. Once the full route is completed — which officials say will happen by the end of this decade — the system will cut a road journey of some 45 days to a rail trip of 45 hours.
On Wednesday, Biden announced the United States will invest $600 million more to upgrade the rail, develop the corridor and expand agriculture. And while this project is small compared to China’s sprawling Belt and Road Initiative, Biden emphasized that the U.S. seeks true partnership with African nations.
"The United States understands that how we invest in Africa is just as important as how much we invest in Africa,” he said, flanked by the leaders of Angola, Congo, Zambia and the vice president of Tanzania, who met with Biden to tout the project and plot a path forward.
Angolan President Joao Lourenco said: "This will be a linchpin for the economic development that will provide the participation of small and medium enterprises in the business value chain, mainly in agriculture, industry and mining in order to increase trade and economic growth of SADC [Southern Africa Development Community] region and the Eastern African region.”
And from Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, whose massive, mineral-rich nation has much to gain: "The corridor is way more than just a transportation access,” he said. “It is a unique opportunity for regional integration, economic transformation, and to improve the living conditions of our fellow citizens."
Analysts are quick to note that this is no charity.
"From the U.S. and an EU point of view, it's like if we don't have access to the critical minerals for the green economy, we'll lag behind in terms of greening the global economy,” said E.D. Wala Chabala, an independent economic policy and strategy consultant.
A top Angolan agricultural official told VOA that Angola hopes to use this boost to one day export higher-value items duty free to the U.S. through the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act.
“We are also very focused on promoting internal production, effectively solving our need to feed and as the process allows us to effectively evolve towards opportunities such as AGOA,” said Anderson Jeronimo, who heads the Planning Statistics Studies Office of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Mayra Fernandes contributed to this report.
