Staff Reporter
THE much-anticipated visit to Angola by American President Joe Biden has been postponed.
Biden, who was expected to visit Germany today, Thursday, and then Angola from 13 to 15 October, has delayed both visits due to the deadly Hurricane Milton, which made landfall in Florida early today, causing deaths, flooding, and widespread destruction, leaving over two million Americans without electricity.
Biden’s visit held enormous economic significance for the Southern African subcontinent. He and Angolan President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço were set to formalize the G7’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI) initiative and discuss increased collaboration on shared priorities, including bolstering economic partnerships and enhancing peace and security.
In 2023, the US and the EU signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Angola, the DRC, and Zambia, underscoring a commitment to develop the Lobito Corridor as a transcontinental railway network of free access, initially connecting the mineral-rich regions of the DRC and Zambia with the Angolan port of Lobito, but with the eventual aim of linking the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Indian Ocean in the east.
The 1,344-kilometre railway traverses Angola from Lobito and runs eastward through important cities such as Benguela, Huambo, Kuito-Bié, and Luena before reaching the town of Luau on the DRC border.
The EU invested about €45 million (N$863 million) in projects along the corridor, while Italy mobilized about $320 million (N$5.44 billion) for the modernization of the railway infrastructure. The railway was shut down when a bloody civil war broke out in Angola in the 1970s and was only recently rehabilitated by a Chinese company.
Biden, who vowed to visit Africa before leaving office in January, is expected to reschedule the Angolan visit before that time.
