A U.S. President’s first responsibility is the welfare of American citizens, so it was understandable that President Biden postponed his scheduled October visit to Africa in light of Hurricanes Helene and Milton's acute threat to the Southeastern U.S. But even with the remainder of his term measured in weeks, I was relieved to see that he has now rescheduled the trip for December. As Africa’s geopolitical importance grows, a U.S. Presidential visit matters.
While it’s not just about China; much of our engagement with Africa has to do with China. For over a decade now China has been eating America’s lunch in Africa in terms of investment, trade, presence and sadly - more and more – influence. While some folks may shrug and say, “so what,” those of us who’ve spent much of our lives dealing with Africa can offer a long list of “because.” To spare eyes glazing over, I’ll mention just a few. Africa holds 30% of the world’s mineral reserves but much larger portions of the “rare earths” - cobalt, copper, etc. - essential to 21st century life (think computers, phones, batteries, wind turbines, and yes, advanced weapons systems). While the world’s population is aging, Africa will add 796 million people of working age between now and 2050, more than the rest of the world combined. And Africa, with its 54 countries, many of which act in unison when voting in international bodies like the United Nations, can help pass or defeat resolutions, and elect or defeat candidates for important international organization positions which determine key issues for all of us: like internet regulations or assigning radio frequencies.
The Chinese ‘get’ Africa’s importance. During my many trips there as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, I was shocked by the immense Chinese presence and influence. Everywhere I traveled I saw Chinese projects, companies, equipment, products, and workers – from all skill and professional levels. This was a huge change from when I retired after my Ambassadorship to Ethiopia in 2003. Then, the Chinese were just starting to bid on construction projects and their presence was minimal. Now, in addition to sending the highest-level Chinese officials to Africa every year, since 2006 China has also hosted the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) every three years, with the most recent being held this past September. Usually, almost every African head-of-state goes to Beijing where they get lavish individual attention and significant “deliverables.” This time Chinese President Xi promised $50 Billion in loans and investments over the next three years, the creation of one million jobs in Africa, the training of 6,000 African military members and 1,000 police, and bringing 1,000 African politicians to China to “discuss governance” (i.e., why China’s system is better than America’s). To add insult to injury, American taxpayers have provided Africa with Billions of dollars of assistance in such critical areas as health and HIV/AIDS treatment, while African nations pay for China’s projects by taking on massive debts. But Africans can see the evidence of Chinese-poured concrete while the lives we save are less visible.
During the Trump administration the US finally woke up to how damaging China’s massive presence in Africa is to America’s interests and long-term security, and the Biden administration has followed suit. Biden hosted his own US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in 2022, and while nowhere near as grandiose as the Chinese version, it was a significant step forward. Along with much more modest “deliverables,” Biden promised to visit the continent during his presidency. As with all US Presidential trips overseas, the decision on which African country he should visit was fiercely debated. The selection of Angola – the second largest petroleum producer in Africa also holding significant reserves of 36 out of 51 critical minerals and rare earths - was a great choice.
While Angola started out as a Marxist dictatorship after independence and retains close ties to China and Russia, its most recent President, Jao Lourenco, is charting bold new directions favorable to America. Shortly after coming to power in 2017, he slowly dismantled the corrupt nepotism of his predecessor, became active in regional peacemaking, and made known his goal to expand ties with the US. While China has constructed most of Angola’s modern infrastructure, Lourenco was one of only several African leaders who did not attend FOCAC in Beijing. Angola is also the key participant – along with Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – of an American-led multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project which will hopefully show Africans that there are alternatives to China’s way of doing business.
Named the Lobito Corridor – for Angola’s Lobito port city – the project will develop a transportation corridor from Lobito, through a portion of the DRC, to the heart of Zambia’s Copper Belt. While the US is facilitating the project, participants include the private sector, the European Union, and several development banks. Beyond new roads and rail, the project will create a large number of jobs and improve life along the entire corridor. One major goal will be to move minerals from Zambia and DRC to Lobito so they can easily be shipped to the Americas rather than moving in the opposite direction to China. While this is just a single project, if it succeeds with its ambitions to develop the entire economy along the corridor and not just lay concrete or rails, it will showcase a model which may be more attractive to African nations than China’s extractive mercantilism.
Biden going to Angola to highlight Lobito is the perfect message the U.S. needs to be sending – that we also ’get’ Africa’s importance for the 21st Century, and that America can also lead on large projects which make a major positive impact. But beyond strengthening our relations with Angola, Biden could also dramatically increase U.S. influence across Africa – especially with its booming youth – by involving one of America’s world-leading “industries”: our cutting-edge higher education system. Universities like Texas Tech are exactly the type of institutions which could partner with Africa’s quickly emerging universities to help young Africans develop skills the Continent needs to achieve its potential. Our adversaries like China don’t hesitate to use their “soft power”; neither should we. While our Presidential election will be over by the time Biden makes the trip, his going to Africa before leaving office is at least a half step forward which our next President can follow up.