US President Joe Biden has said at the start of talks with his counterpart João Lourenço that he is very proud to be the first US president to visit Angola.
The talks at the presidential palace in the capital Luanda were on security and trade.
The U.S. government is backing a new 1,300-kilometer (810-mile) railway project linking Angola’s port with mining regions in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.
The visit to oil-rich Angola is part of US efforts to focus more on trade and investment in Africa, which some analysts see as a counter to China’s influence on the continent.
In his first and only visit to Africa during his presidency, Biden’s choice of Angola is significant and signals a dramatic improvement in relations between the two countries.
Welcoming the US president to the country, Lourenco said the visit “marks a turning point in our relations, which will undoubtedly gain a new impetus from today”.
“I’m very proud of everything we’ve done together to transform our partnership so far,” Biden said in response.
“You’ve heard me say it before … America is in Africa … the future of the world is here, in Africa and in Angola,” the president said. Recalling the remarks he made at the 2022 US-Africa Summit in Washington..
Angola has been firmly in the political orbit of China and Russia since its independence from Portuguese colonial rule in 1975, but since taking power in 2017, Lourenco has steered it toward closer ties with the United States.
Later Tuesday, Biden is scheduled to visit a slavery museum. More than four million slaves were forcibly sent to America from this region of Africa.
“Together, the United States and Angola recognize the horrors of slavery’s past and its legacy, while looking forward to a bright future of continued deep cooperation between our nations,” the White House said in a statement Monday.