President Joe Biden is set to visit Africa for the first time since he assumed power four years ago – the White House has announced.
He will fulfil his promise to visit the continent during his term in office with a visit to Angola before the November election, the White House announced on September 24 during the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Biden, who stepped aside from the November election for his Vice President Kamala Harris, will spend time in the capital city of Luanda from October 13 to October 15, 2024.
Details show that Biden will discuss economic partnerships and a vision for Africa’s first transcontinental open-access rail network connecting the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, among other issues – in what is seen as a bid to counter the Russia and China influence on the continent.
“The President’s visit to Luanda celebrates the evolution of the U.S.-Angola relationship, underscores the United States’ continued commitment to African partners, and demonstrates how collaborating to solve shared challenges delivers for the people of the United States and across the African continent,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
According to a CBS report, Biden had long pledged to visit Africa as president, but without specific plans to follow through. In May, the president said he would visit the continent in February, after he was reelected.
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“I plan on going in February after I am reelected,” Biden said as he greeted Kenyan President William Ruto at the White House in May.
But Biden’s decision to exit the race for president altered that calculus, casting a trip to Africa in doubt.
Earlier Tuesday, the president announced the U.S. is providing at least $500 million, as well as 1 million mpox vaccine doxes, to aid African countries as they try to prevent and respond to the mpox outbreak.
In August, the World Health Organization (WHO) determined that an upsurge of mpox in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a growing number of nations in Africa constitutes a public health emergency of international concern under the International Health Regulations, the highest level of alarm.
The Angola trip announcement comes the same day Biden delivered his final address to the UNGA as president.
“My fellow leaders, I truly believe we’re at another inflection point in world history where the choices we make today will determine our future for decades to come,” Biden said Tuesday.
“Will we stand behind the principles that unite us? Will we stand firm against aggression? Will we end the conflicts that are raging today? Will we take on global challenges like climate change, hunger and disease?”
