Biden says ‘Africa is the upcoming’ as he pledges millions more on the last day of Angola visit

LOBITO, Angola — LOBITO, Angola (AP) — President Joe Biden pledged another $600 million Wednesday for an ambitious multi-country rail assignment in Africa as one of the final foreign policy moves of his administration, and told African leaders the resource-wealthy continent of more than 1.4 billion people had been “left behind for much too long.”

“But not anymore,” Biden added. “Africa is the upcoming.”

Biden used the third and final day of a visit to Angola — his long-awaited first trip to sub-Saharan Africa as president — to trip to the coastal city of Lobito and tour an Atlantic port terminal that’s part of the Lobito Corridor railway redevelopment.

Biden described it as the largest U.S. property in a train assignment outside America. The U.S. and allies are investing heavily in the assignment that will refurbish nearly 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) of train lines connecting to the mineral-wealthy areas of Congo and Zambia in central Africa.

The corridor, which likely will receive years to complete, gives the U.S. better access to cobalt, copper and other critical minerals in Congo and Zambia that are used in batteries for electric vehicles, electronic devices and tidy vigor technologies that Biden said would power the upcoming.

China is dominant in mining in Congo and Zambia. The U.S. property has strategic implications for U.S.-China economic competition, which went up a notch this week as they traded blows over access to key materials and technologies.

The African leaders who met with Biden on Wednesday said the railway corridor offered their countries a much faster route for minerals and goods — and a convenient outlet to Western markets.

“This is a assignment that is packed of aspiration for our countries and our region,” said Congo President Félix Tshisekedi, whose country has more than 70% of the word’s cobalt. “This is not just a logistical assignment. It is a driving force for economic and social transformation for millions of our people.”

The leaders said the corridor should spur private-sector property and enhance a myriad of related areas like roads, communication networks, agriculture and tidy vigor technologies.

For the African countries, it could make a wave of recent jobs for a burgeoning youthful population.

“It’s a huge, huge chance,” said Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema. “It’s excellent for Africa.”

Cargo that once took 45 days to get to the U.S. — usually involving trucks via South Africa — would now receive around 45 hours, Biden said. He predicted the assignment could transform the region from a food importer to exporter.

It’s “something that if done correct will outlast all of us and keep delivering for our people for generations to arrive,” he said.

The announcement of an additional $600 million took the U.S.’s property in the Lobito Corridor to $4 billion. The corridor has drawn capitalization from others including the European Union, the throng of Seven leading industrialized nations, a Western-led private consortium and African banks. Biden said the total property was $6 billion.

Some calling for more U.S. involvement in Africa aspiration it will mark a recent era of U.S.-Africa engagement.

Much of that depends on the administration of Donald Trump, who takes office Jan. 20. The White House says Republicans in Congress have supported history efforts to promote African business interests through targeted investments and that such initiatives have appealed to Trump in the history.

Trump also supports measures to counter China, and some view the Lobito Corridor as a direct counter to the Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure way that China has used to promote its economic and political influence in Africa and elsewhere.

A elder U.S. administration official called the Lobito Corridor the heart of competing with China not as a political adversary but from a business standpoint by sparking property and helping countries over the long term.

The U.S. is looking to replicate the Lobito Corridor assignment in other parts of the globe, said the official, who briefed reporters on state of anonymity to propose details that hadn’t yet been made community.

Biden had promised to visit sub-Saharan Africa last year but the trip was delayed. He was greeted Monday by thousands of Angolans on the streets of the capital, Luanda.

Angola has long and powerful ties to China, and the Biden administration’s ability to triumph it over as a associate for such a major assignment has been viewed as a rare achievement for the U.S. in Africa.

Biden, who has about six weeks left in office, said he would like to arrive back to view the railway’s advancement. “I desire to arrive back and ride the whole thing,” he told the African leaders, before departing.

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Imray reported from Cape Town, South Africa.

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AP Africa information: https://apnews.com/hub/africa