From right: Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, Angolan President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, US President Joe Biden, DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and Tanzania’s Vice President Philip Isdor Mpango walk together, during a visit to a Carrinho facility, near Lobito in Angola, on December 4, 2024.
President Joe Biden’s visit to Angola this week, the first by an American president, has rekindled the economic rivalry with China, with scholars pointing out that the new scramble for Africa is replete with empty promises.
Beijing sees Biden’s touting of the transborder Lobito Corridor in Southern Africa as an opportunity to counter Chinese clout in the region by advancing a plan to extend a railway that could channel critical minerals from Angola, Congo and Zambia to the West via Lobito and Dar es Salaam.
