Currently, Angola is the “most important country in Africa” for the USA, according to its president Joe Biden, and it all seems not to be mere demagoguery. Despite the wars in which it is involved, in Ukraine and the Middle East, the Biden Administration keeps its eyes on its partner from the cradle continent by sending its most important assistants, as well as seeking to fulfill its investment promises. On the Angolan side, although more emotional and dependent on global powers, it has known how to remain faithful to the partnership, distanced itself from the BRICS, an organization antagonistic to North American interests, and even lined up the designer of the meeting room at the City Palace High to the White House.
The United States of America, under the Biden Administration, has returned to its traditional agenda, that of guardian of the free and democratic world. Misunderstood, and compared to the Administration of his predecessor, Republican Donald Trump, the Democrat is being accused of promoting world wars, due to the fact that he is practically opposing Vladimir Putin’s global dominating intentions.
In 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin was elected, for the fourth consecutive year, the most powerful man in the world by Forbes magazine. In the list of powerful, Putin had dethroned Donald Trump, as North American president, and the then German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Vladimir Putin reaffirmed his image in the world as the most powerful man due to his unstoppable actions carried out within his own country, his unpunished meddling in the North American elections that gave Trump victory, his advances in Syria, in aid of Bashar al-Assad, who, due to Putin’s support, remained unpunished even after being accused of using chemical weapons against a rebel group.
Putting the world at risk of World War III, Vladimir Putin threatened to place Russian men and military equipment precisely where the Obama-era US intended to bomb in response to the Assad regime’s alleged use of chemical weapons, and assured that he would retaliate if the US and allied operations took place. The West had to retreat.
These episodes created a false idea of impunity for Putin. Continued. He advanced into Ukraine and annexed Crimea, and the world once again turned its eyes away as if nothing had happened.
However, Putin’s miscalculation emerged in February 2022, a year after Joe Biden took office as the 46th American president.
The Kremlin invaded Ukraine on the 24th of the aforementioned month and year, perhaps believing that Biden was similar to Trump and Obama. I’m mistaken. Joe Biden led the US to invest heavily in Ukraine, sending thousands of dollars and military equipment, a fact that has allowed Zelensky’s country to face Moscow’s massive military force. In addition to Washington, Brussels, the capital of the 27 members of the European Union, has also sent thousands of euros and equipment to Kiev.
As if the war in Ukraine wasn’t enough, a war broke out in the Middle East involving the US’s biggest ally in the region, the State of Israel. Armed men from Hamas, the organization that governs the Gaza Strip, invaded Israeli territory on October 7, 2023.
In addition to Hamas, several other groups taken over by terrorists in the West and Israel began to launch attacks against Hebrew cities and sought to interrupt commercial circulation in the Red Sea.
Once again, the US was forced to act, sending thousands of dollars to Israel, as well as sophisticated military equipment. Unlike its intervention in Ukraine, in Israel, the US has deployed men who have intercepted missiles coming from Yemen and elsewhere.
However, it is a lot of pressure on the US. But despite this, there is time left for Angola. In fulfillment of its promise to establish a relationship of mutual prosperity, the US is increasing its presence in the country with investment in clean energy, telecommunications, and the Lobito Corridor – a railway that connects Angola to the Democratic Republic of Congo and to Zambia, a project in which the Americans dethroned the Chinese.
Data from AIPEX, the Angolan agency responsible for import, private investment and export policy, over the last six years, from August 2018 to January 2024, indicate that North American investments are valued at 3.5 billion dollars, representing thus in the top 10 among the largest that invested the most in the country in the period under analysis.
Contrary to popular belief, England is in second place at the top, ahead of China, which invested just over 318 million dollars.
As Joe Biden said, currently, Angola is the “most important country in Africa” for the USA. And given the stance now adopted by the North Americans, it seems that this is not mere demagoguery in the context of international politics.
From September 2023 until January this year, for example, the White House sent the most relevant members of the Biden Administration to Angola, from those linked to the energy, technology, defense and security sectors, as well as its Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who he did not hesitate to praise the direction that Angolan governance is taking.
… Health
In addition to economic projects, such as technology, energy and others, the Biden Administration is also committed to improving the Angolan health system.
And within this framework, the visit to Angola by the administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Samantha Power, is scheduled for the 23rd to 25th of this month, who will be accompanied by Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma.
The objective of these important North American cadres is to reaffirm the US government’s commitment to supporting prosperity, security and good governance in Angola.
The administrator will meet with government leaders, members of civil society and business executives in Luanda. It will look at the issue of malaria prevention, the investments made in this segment by USAID, in addition to a visit to the National Institute of Health Research of Angola, a key partner in the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI).
The Lobito Corridor is also among the objectives of the visit. In turn, Angola, although more emotional and dependent on global powers, has been able to remain faithful to the partnership. It distanced itself from some BRICS countries, an organization antagonistic to North American interests.
In March 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Angola voted to abstain from a UN Resolution that aimed to condemn Moscow. The vote was seen as a form of support for Russia, its old ally. But after approaching the USA, Angola changed the way it looked at that war. In October of the same year, the country voted, at the UN, in favor of a Resolution that condemned Russia for the annexation of Ukrainian territories.
In different segments there is a perception that the country has knocked the door on OPEC following guidance from the USA, although Angola says it was its own decision aimed at increasing oil production.
In addition to the economic field, the partnership with the USA has also extended to the military and intelligence sector, and at the moment the country has expressed its intention to replace Russian military equipment with NATO equipment.
