Blinken recalibrates US focus in Africa

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Africa ended with a stopover in Angola. Analysts suggest Blinken was seeking to shore up trans-Atlantic trade partnerships in light of instability in the Middle East.

While many observers see Antony Blinken’s fourth visit to Africa as an American attempt to outdo rivals China and Russia for influence on the continent, trans-Atlantic trade must have been near the top of his agenda, according to African affairs analyst Emmanuel Bensah.

“The reason why US is engaging Angola is largely because of the Lobito Corridor. It is one of the corridors that Angola, through USAID, has been very fortunate in signing an agreement just last year to pump a lot of money into to transport minerals,” he told DW.

The Lobito Corridor rail link connects mining areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia’s Copperbelt province to the Atlantic port of Lobito in Angola. Logistical bottlenecks in South Africa have had a negative impact on exports of copper and cobalt.
Staunch opposition in Angola to the growing influence of M23 rebels in neighboring Congo has also drawn the US in to become a dependable strategic partner, as the conflict in Congo threatens to destabilize the entire region.
However, Blinken must still woo the central African nation on a myriad of other issues. Historically, the former Portuguese colony has had close links with China and Russia.

“With China, the Angolan government under previous president [Jose Eduardo] dos Santos had a very strong relationship, especially since Beijing helped reconstruct the Benguela railway after the Angolan civil war ended just over 20 years ago,” said Sanusha Naidu, a senior research associate at the Institute for Global Dialogue in Cape Town. “This allowed Angola to connect to the rest of Africa and become a major player, especially in trade.

Source: DW