Biden caps presidency with visit to Southern Africa

“I wish everyone could see what I saw today: tracks that will form Africa’s first transcontinental railroad,” President Biden said in Luanda, Angola, where he announced nearly $600 million in new funding for infrastructure projects along the Lobito Corridor, a strategic region connecting the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), northwestern Zambia and Angola.

Headlined by the development of an 800-kilometer rail line linking Angola and Zambia for the first time, the project will drive economic growth and connect the region to global trade markets via Angola’s port of Lobito.

Speaking alongside the presidents of Angola, Zambia and the DRC, as well as the vice president of Tanzania, Biden’s announcement brings the total U.S. funding to the Lobito Corridor to more than $4 billion, representing the U.S. commitment — along with an additional $2 billion in investment from G7 and other partners — to closing the infrastructure gap for the benefit of Africans across the continent. “At its core, what we’re doing is about people,” said President Biden. “It’s about the farmer who can get more food on more tables; the worker who can count on a living wage and safe working conditions; the entrepreneur who is finally empowered to lead, innovate, and build.”

President Biden’s visit caps four years of strengthening relationships between the U.S. and African countries. It follows a steady flow of visits from senior members of his administration, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin in January 2023 and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in September 2023. These visits and the following trips by leading members of the Biden administration fulfill the president’s pledge during the December 2022 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit and in his U.S. strategy for sub-Saharan Africa.

Vice President Harris

In a weeklong trip to Zambia, Ghana and Tanzania in April 2023, Vice President Harris announced $7 billion in private-sector investments to boost food production across Africa and mitigate the effects of climate change.

The vice president led a discussion in Ghana with women entrepreneurs, where she announced a $1 billion global initiative to support women’s entrepreneurship in Africa.

In Tanzania, she met with President Samia Suluhu Hassan, Africa’s only woman head of state. Harris made a series of announcements, including U.S. plans to provide $560 million in bilateral assistance for Tanzania in 2024.

“I do strongly believe, I think most of us would agree, that when you lift up the economic status of women, you lift up the economic status of families, and all of society benefits,” Harris said March 31.

In Zambia, she lauded Zambia’s leadership as the African co-host of the second Summit for Democracy and shared U.S. plans to provide $505 million in bilateral assistance.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken

In January 2024, Secretary Blinken traveled to Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Angola, his fourth visit to Africa as Secretary of State. Throughout the trip, he highlighted areas of deepening partnership such as climate, food, infrastructure and security.

In Cabo Verde, he visited the island nation’s central port of Praia, which was renovated and expanded through the U.S. Millennium Challenge Fund. In Côte d’Ivoire, he pledged $45 million in additional financing to help fight conflict and bring stability to coastal West Africa.

First Lady Jill Biden

The first lady visited Namibia and Kenya in February 2023, focusing on the regional food crisis and public health issues. During her five-day trip, she also promoted programs to prevent HIV/AIDS. She met with Namibian President Hage Geingob and Monica Geingos, the nation’s first lady.

When asked why Namibia was her first stop, she said, “We wanted to come because you know this is a young democracy, and we want to support democracies around the world.”

In Kenya, Biden and Rachel Ruto, Kenya’s first lady, met with women entrepreneurs who created their own lending network to provide financing that they cannot obtain from commercial banks.

U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, visited Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, and Sierra Leone in January 2024, her second visit to Africa since the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit. In Liberia, she led the U.S. delegation to the inauguration of President-elect Joseph Boakai, underscoring the U.S. commitment to peaceful democratic transitions.

“Democracies deliver. Democracies protect human rights and promote economic development. [They] create safer communities and ensure our voices are heard in the halls of power. [They are] a means to fighting our greatest challenges, from disease to climate change,” she said.