The United States (U.S.) is advancing bilateral ties with Angola, strengthening cooperation in key areas including economic, trade, and investment, food security, global health cooperation, and climate and energy. U.S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, wrapped up his four-nation tour of Africa with a visit to Angola, where he discussed the U.S.-Angola partnership and promoted shared goals such as expanding economic prosperity and energy access.
During his stop in Angola on 24 and 25 January, Blinken acclaimed the southern African country’s progress in the construction of the Lobito-Corridor project, which is poised to link the resource-rich Copperbelt nations of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Port of Lobito on Angola’s Atlantic coast.
Furthermore, during a meeting with Angola’s President, João Lourenço, Blinken expressed the U.S.’s commitment to driving the southern African country’s digitalization efforts, with support towards reliable telecommunication networks poised to improve Angola’s digital connectivity to the global economy.
The U.S.-Angola partnership is also driven by a commitment to ensuring peace in the region, with the U.S. exploring opportunities to expand capacity-building efforts in the cybersecurity sector. Additionally, the U.S. is working with Angola to ensure food security and climate resilience through capacity building and infrastructure development, which is expected to have the added benefit of driving economic diversification.
Cementing the longstanding relationship between the U.S. and Angola, Blinken also highlighted the U.S.’s support towards environmental and conservation efforts, including water resource management, sanitation services, and decarbonization of the energy sector.
