As the US top diplomat wrapped up his visit to Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Angola (21-26 January), experts have hailed what they call the United States finally “making serious efforts to strengthen its relations with Africa”. But experts and observers have also pointed out that Blinken’s visit has also highlighted that the United States is playing catch-up with China and Russia in Africa. This was most notable in the case of the oil-rich Angola that long turned to China for infrastructure and to Russia for tanks and missiles, but it’s foreign relations now appear to be undergoing a major realignment. The Central African country has rejected China and embraced the US and European countries to help it build Angola’s vast $250 million Lobito Corridor that will eventually link Angola with mineral-rich parts of Zambia and the DR of Congo. This major railway project will channel cobalt, copper and other critical minerals out, diversifying US supplies of raw materials critical to the green revolution.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 30, 2024 14:01 UTC