The 800-mile rail corridor from Angola’s northern border to the Atlantic Ocean is a signature project by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in Africa, aimed at countering China’s influence and restructuring its involvement with the American continent.
When President Trump took office this year, he soon moved to dismantle decades of American aid to Africa, raising fears that the US was pulling back from its commitment. The future of America’s involvement in the railroad project was an open question.
But this week, Angola’s US ambassador, James Story, first showed that the Trump administration was on the project. This is expected to improve access to minerals such as cobalt and copper in the United States, which are important for the clean energy transition.
Arrived in Angola last October, St. Leads a delegation of more than 12 western envoys on a three-day promotional tour along the railway, including visits with local politicians.
As Trump continues to create his own African team, the tour provided clues as to how he will shape policy on the continent and how it plans to follow Biden’s approach and leave.
“The Trump administration is about creating business to support the United States,” said Ozvaldo Mboko, a professor of international relations at Angola Institute of Technology, Luanda.
Trump officials in Washington did not come to tour, but Story said the administration supported the effort. He added that the aim was to demonstrate international solidarity, seek investment opportunities and make it clear that the US and its Western allies remained unseparated from the project.
The railway was first completed in 1931 and ran from the border with Angola’s Democratic Republic of the Congo (home to the world’s largest cobalt reserve) to the port city of Lobito on the west coast. China funded the rehabilitation of the Line over a decade ago.
Under the Biden administration, the US has committed about $4 billion to a variety of projects along the corridor, including railroad renovations, mining and agricultural projects development.
Biden has pitched the hallway as part of America’s new approach to engaging with Africa. This focused more on commercial partnerships than merely extracting aid and natural resources. He viewed it as an answer to China’s long-standing involvement with African countries, resulting in the construction of new cities, airports, highways and shopping centres.
Biden administration officials said they would invite businesses to build nearby manufacturing plants so that the railroad could transport goods nearby, giving local farmers a way to ship produce.
It is unclear whether the Trump administration will defend the broader economic interests of the railroad or focus on increasing US access to minerals.
“Is this about rail renovations or investing in communications, alternative energy sources and food security,” said Judd Devermont, one of Biden’s top advisors in Africa.
The project’s ambitions have already been influenced by some of Trump’s policies. After Trump refunded the US International Development Agency, an initiative aimed at teaching women better agricultural technology was shut down in the hopes of increasing agricultural production along the railroad.
However, there are some early indications that the Trump administration may be looking for business investment in Africa.
Presidential candidate Ben Black, who runs the US International Development Finance Corporation, said he has lent billions of dollars to overseas projects and is one of America’s leading funders along the Lobito corridors.
Sun Africa CEO Adam Cortese, the American solar energy company responsible for US government-supported projects along corridors and Nigeria, said his engagement with Trump officials was encouraging. He said the authorities have expressed their desire to invest in the development of Africa’s energy infrastructure.
“They support production as long as they have connections with American companies,” he said, adding that his company’s major African competitor is China’s state-owned enterprise. “It certainly appears to have a lot of support in increasing US competition with China.”
While Trump has not expressly expressed his support for the Lobito Corridor Project, Angola’s Minister of Transport Ricardo Vigus Dubreu said this week’s diplomatic mission was a positive signal. The Angola president has said strengthening economic ties with the United States is essential to help him grow an oil-rich country and diversify its economy.
“We feel that there hasn’t been any major disruption even in this new administration,” D’Abreu said of the progress of the Lobito project.
Ultimately, the benefits Angola and other African countries can make from doing business with Trump depend on how those countries position themselves, said Mboko, a professor of international relations. He said they need to attack transactions that include US investment in African manufacturing, not just extracting natural resources.
“Africa needs to stop being a poor family,” Mboko said.
