Last month, US President Joe Biden met with Angolan President João Lourenço in Washington D.C. to pledge support for Angola’s development and identify new areas for collaboration.
The state visit was a milestone in bilateral relations between the two countries, cementing Angola’s position as a strategic ally to the US and indicating new flows of US capital and technology into the southern African country.
According to President Biden, the US has committed over one billion dollars to fund solar power, bridges and telecommunications infrastructure in the southern African country, while injecting a further one billion dollars to finance the Lobito Corridor Trade Facilitation Project – a strategic multimodal transport facility connecting Zambia to the Angolan coast via the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The Lobito Corridor project, which serves as part of the newly-formed G7’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, will involve the refurbishment of the 1,300-km Lobito Atlantic Railway line and the construction of a new 800-km rail line between Angola and Zambia.
The project is considered a key step in establishing a trade route for critical minerals used to produce electric vehicles and green energy technologies, such as cobalt and copper.
“The first-of-its-kind project is the biggest US rail investment in Africa ever, one that’s going to create jobs and connect markets for generations to come,” stated President Biden during the visit.
At the upcoming edition of Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) – the country’s leading energy conference taking place in Luanda next September – the role of US-Angola partnership in advancing shared goals of energy security and transition will be in focus.
As Angola’s attractiveness as an investment destination continues to grow – with the US, China, Russia and Europe all seeking to expand their activities in-country – AOG 2024 serves as an opportunity for Angola to access new sources of foreign investment.
Meanwhile, US operators, investors, service providers and small- to mid-sized companies will have access to Angola’s energy and infrastructure projects to strengthen US presence in the country.
