Angolan Foreign Affairs Minister Tete Antonio has expressed optimism that US President Joe Biden’s visit to the country next month will serve as a catalyst for attracting foreign investment and accelerating economic diversification, Bloomberg reports.
The trip, scheduled for October 10-15, will see Biden visit Germany and Angola, marking his first international travel since withdrawing from the US presidential race in July.
“It will attract attention to Angola,” Antonio said in an interview on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. “Many people will look at Angola as a destination to go to and to invest.”
For decades, Angola has relied heavily on Chinese loans to rebuild infrastructure following its civil war in 2002. The country owes China around $17 billion, primarily in oil-backed loans.
“We believe that the private sector is really an engine for what the ambitions the country has for development,” he said.
One of the focal points of Biden’s visit is expected to be the US-backed Lobito corridor, a railway project stretching 1,300 kilometers, designed to transport crucial minerals from Central Africa’s copper belt to an Atlantic port in Angola. Seen as a counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Africa, the Lobito corridor represents a significant investment in Angola’s future.
Antonio highlighted the importance of such projects in boosting trade, exports, and job creation. He believes these initiatives will help Angola and other African nations move beyond simply producing and exporting raw materials, transitioning towards manufacturing and value-added production.
“It’s a paradigm shift,” Antonio stressed. “It brings a lot of opportunities in different areas, not only for transportation, but also areas like agriculture and the transformation of the raw materials.”
