Biden Meets Angolan President, Says US Is ‘All in on Africa’

President Joe Biden shakes hands with Angolan President Joao Lourenco ahead of their bilateral meeting at the Presidential Palace in Luanda, Angola, on Dec. 3, 2024. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

LUANDA, Angola—President Joe Biden met with Angolan President Joao Lourenco on Dec. 3 to discuss strengthening ties with the African country.

Biden first participated in the arrival ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Luanda, the capital of Angola. Following the ceremony, the two leaders held a bilateral meeting, during which they discussed trade, investment, infrastructure, security, and stability in the region, as well as ways to deepen U.S.–Angolan cooperation.

This is the president’s first trip to Sub-Saharan Africa during his term and the first visit to Angola by a sitting president of the United States.

During the meeting, both leaders “highlighted the transformation of the U.S.–Angolan relationship,” according to the White House.

Lourenco—speaking in Portuguese—welcomed Biden, describing this first visit by a U.S. president as a “turning point” for the relationship between the two nations. He said Angola wanted to increase economic and security cooperation, particularly in the maritime domain.

The Angolan president also mentioned the development of power grid projects, among others. He applauded Biden’s “great contribution” to the development of Angola through the Lobito Corridor project, a rail line investment project that started last year with U.S. support.

Biden said he was “very proud” of being the first U.S. president to visit Angola and touted various development projects in the energy, communication, and agriculture sectors.

“The United States is all in on Africa [and] all in on Angola,” he said.

“The future of the world is here. We don’t think because we are bigger and more powerful, we are smarter.”

The two leaders spoke about trade and investment plans to keep both nations’ companies competitive, defend workers’ interests, and protect and strengthen democracy in Angola and worldwide, according to the White House.

Following the meeting, Biden delivered a speech at the National Museum of Slavery on the outskirts of Luanda.

“Together, the United States and Angola acknowledge the past horrors of slavery and its legacy,” the White House said in a fact sheet.

During his remarks, Biden said millions of African Americans have roots in Angola.

“Historians believe people of Angola accounted for a significant number of all enslaved people shipped to America,” he said, calling slavery the country’s “original sin.”

After arriving in Luanda on Dec. 2, Biden met with Wanda Tucker, a descendent of William Tucker, the first enslaved child born in the United States, according to the White House.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the National Slavery Museum in Morro da Cruz, Luanda, Angola, on Dec. 3, 2024. Emel Akan/The Epoch Times

“William Tucker’s parents were first brought to colonial Virginia from Angola in August 1619, aboard the Portuguese ship the White Lion. Today, Ms. Tucker is the faculty chair of psychology, philosophy, and religious studies at Rio Salado College,” the White House stated.

During his speech, Biden also announced $1 billion in humanitarian aid for Africa in response to humanitarian crises including displacement of people caused by drought.

Infrastructure Project

On Dec. 4, the president will travel to Lobito, a port city in western Angola. He will tour the Lobito port terminal and visit a food processing factory.

Biden will also participate in the Lobito Corridor Trans-Africa summit with leaders from Angola, Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Tanzania.

He is expected to highlight the Lobito Corridor project during his meetings. The United States has committed more than $3 billion for infrastructure efforts in Angola in support of the project.

The rail line investment project traverses Angola, the DRC, and Zambia. It connects Angola’s Lobito port to the mineral-rich areas of the DRC and Zambia’s Copperbelt. Washington considers it a major effort to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s Belt and Road Initiative in Africa.

Pardon Criticism

While Biden strived to deliver strong messages from Africa, the mounting criticism at home over his pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, overshadowed his visit.

He faced questions about his decision during the arrival ceremony in Luanda. He ignored a shouted question about the pardon, which came after months of the president insisting that he would not pardon his son or commute the sentences in the younger Biden’s federal gun or tax cases.

Several prominent Democrats criticized the president following the pardon, including several congress members.

Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), in a statement on social media platform X, called Biden’s decision to pardon his son “unwise.”

Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) called the pardon “a mistake.”

“Presidents hold enormous power and responsibility and must be held to a higher standard,” Crow wrote on X.

Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) expressed concern about the precedent the pardon sets.

“As a father, I understand the desire to do everything you can to help and protect your children, but I worry such a sweeping pardon for a close family member sets an unfortunate precedent that undermines trust in the office of the president,” Golden wrote on X.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis also criticized the move.

“While as a father I certainly understand President [Joe Biden’s] natural desire to help his son by pardoning him, I am disappointed that he put his family ahead of the country,” Polis wrote on X.

He said that he believes the younger Biden “brought the legal trouble he faced on himself, and one can sympathize with his struggles while also acknowledging that no one is above the law, not a President and not a President’s son.”

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.