On Wednesday, Dec. 4, President Joe Biden announced $600 million in new funding to support the Lobito Trans-Africa Corridor’s rail infrastructure.
The Lobito Trans-Africa Corridor is a series of railway networks connecting the Central African Copperbelt to the Angolan port of Lobito. Known as the Benguela Railway, the rail line is essential for transporting goods to global markets.
According to the White House, the investment will support key sectors in the region, including agriculture, clean energy, transportation and logistics, supply chains, as well as health and digital access.
“The United States understands how we invest in Africa is just as important as how much we invest in Africa,” Biden said, as Bloomberg reported. “To help Africa lead the way. We need more capital and more infrastructure to deal with these real solutions. That’s why we’re here today.”
The U.S. has invested $2.9 billion in Angola’s energy, infrastructure, and telecommunications sectors.
Earlier this year, the International Development Finance Corp pledged $553 million to the Lobito Trans-Africa Corridor. During a speech in the capital city of Luanda on Tuesday, Biden highlighted the project’s significance in facilitating the shipment of critical minerals — essential for technologies such as electric vehicles — from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.
The U.S. has also invested in African education, having previously signed a Framework for Cooperation with the Kenyan government to support innovation in STEM fields in partnership with its universities and the industry, AFROTECH™ previously reported.
The investment included $850,000 dedicated to the Edtech Africa initiative, which aims to foster collaboration among Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), the Open University of Kenya, Mastercard, and Microsoft.
Additionally, the investment includes a $6.5 million project aimed at helping graduate students in STEM fields secure job placements in areas such as information and communication technology, as well as textile and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
“This initiative serves as an emerging technology bridge between Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and African scholars, aimed at cultivating educational exchanges in the ever-evolving landscape of emerging technology,” a White House fact sheet read, according to AFROTECH™.
Biden arrived in Angola on Monday, Dec. 2, marking the first time a sitting U.S. president has traveled to the Republic of Angola and the first visit by a U.S. president to sub-Saharan Africa since 2015, the White House shared in a news release.
The outgoing president promised to visit the continent following a summit with African leaders in Washington in 2022.
While in Lobito, he toured the port and met with companies investing in the project, including SunAfrica and the U.S.-owned mobile network Africell, according to Bloomberg. He also spoke with African leaders, including Angolan President João Lourenço, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, and DRC President Félix Tshisekedi.
