 "Biden’s trip to Africa should not end up being another hollow promise")
While US President Joe Biden could not keep up to his promise to “not interfere” in the judicial process and granted a full and unconditional pardon to his son Hunter Biden for any crimes committed between 2014-24 (including those related to Hunter’s gun ownership and tax evasion), he has at least fulfilled another promise made during the African leaders summit in 2022 to visit the continent during his presidency.
President Biden visited Africa for the first time in his final month. Biden first arrived in the West African island of Cabo Verde on Monday and then went to Angola the same day. This was the first trip of an American president to the continent since Barack Obama travelled to Kenya and Ethiopia in 2015.
Biden became the first US president to visit Cabo Verde, one of the few stable democracies in West and Central Africa and an American ally. The same was true for Angola, an oil-rich nation, a former Portuguese colony, and an emerging partner of the US. This shows America’s preference clearly, particularly when the visit came after a long wait, and more with the motive of fulfilling a ‘promise’.
Africa’s prominence is rising; last year, under the presidency of New Delhi, the African Union was added to the G20 forum. The continent is gradually being driven by the Global South narrative and has seen a rise in anti-West, anti-neocolonialism sentiments. Meanwhile, Chinese footprints are growing significantly in the region. The fact that Biden found only a lame-duck period to visit Africa will also not be missed. Beyond that, it also shows how far the US has shed its supremacist mentality, which takes Africa, or the developing world at large, for granted.
Even during Biden’s visit, Hunter’s redemption remained a flashpoint back in the US, while South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s unexpected move to declare martial law on Tuesday, before withdrawing the same hours later after pressure from his parliament, would have also been a cause of worry for the POTUS.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsHowever, the visit had some considerable takeaways, like Biden, while in Cape Verde, reiterated his support to have two permanent seats for African countries in the UN Security Council, a larger part of his rhetoric of having Africa as the ‘centre of US foreign policy’, but how far these promises will become a reality remains to be seen.
Further, Biden, on Wednesday, pledged another $600 million for an ambitious multi-country rail project in Africa and accepted that the 1.4 billion-populated continent has been left behind for too long; he must think as to what were the prime reasons behind it and how far America can be held responsible for the same.
The US, along with its allies, is investing in a project, creating a corridor, to ‘refurbish’ nearly 2,000 kilometres of train lines connecting Lobito port in Angola to the mineral-rich areas of Congo and Zambia in Central Africa. This corridor will provide America access to the cobalt, copper and other critical material-rich regions, which might play a big role in establishing American leadership in the emerging electric economy. Anyways, there is no second-guessing as to whom these refurbished rail lines will benefit the most—the one investing to build it.
Separating the buzz of having an American president in Africa, the visit largely shows the fulfilling of a responsibility more than a choice. The rise of the Global South is a fact. Any global power cannot take the developing countries of Africa or Asia for granted, the way they did in the past few centuries. The struggle for global leadership, whether by the incumbent superpower or the aspiring one, will have to have Africa in its sphere. The late but necessary visit of Biden is a testimony to this.
However, this trip is like adding a cup of sugar to the ocean. The US needs to do a lot when it comes to retaining Africa on its side, just stating America is ‘all in’ on Africa won’t be enough, it has to be backed by the objective results. That requires not hollow commitments and strategic projects to ensure self-profits and global dominance but moving out of neo-colonial trends to genuinely help the continent, its people to have economic growth and better living standards. Otherwise, promises could be hollow as they were when Biden promised his respect for the American judicial system and rule of law over his own personal concerns. Soon Trump 2.0 will advent; what it brings for Africa—when America vows to become Great Again—remains to be seen.
Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
