US President Joe Biden is in Angola on Tuesday for his first and only visit to sub-Saharan Africa during his presidency, focusing on a major infrastructure project meant to counter China's investments.

Biden arrived late Monday in the oil-rich, Portuguese-speaking country for a two-day visit centered on a multinational project to rehabilitate a railway line that ferries minerals from inland countries to the Angolan port of Lobito for export.

In anticipation of his visit, the Angolan government declared December 3 and 4 public holidays and deployed heavy security across the capital, Luanda, a city of around 9.5 million people.

Biden’s visit began Tuesday with talks with President João Lourenço in Luanda and a planned speech at the National Slavery Museum. On Wednesday, he will travel to Lobito, an Atlantic port city about 500 kilometers (310 miles) south of Luanda.

The port is central to the Lobito Corridor project, which has received loans from the United States, the European Union, and other partners to rehabilitate a key railway connecting the mineral-rich inland countries of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia to Lobito for export.

"It's a real game changer for US engagement in Africa," John Kirby, the White House national security communications advisor, told reporters Monday. "It's our fervent hope that as the new team comes in and takes a look at this, that they see the value too, that they see how it will help drive a more secure, more prosperous, more economically stable continent."

Flagship rail project

The Lobito project is part of the geopolitical rivalry between the US and its allies, and China, which owns mines in the DRC and Zambia, along with numerous other investments in the region. A similar Chinese-funded railway project aims to ferry minerals out via a Tanzanian port on the Indian Ocean.

A senior US official noted that African governments are seeking alternatives to Chinese investment, especially when it results in "living under crushing debt for generations to come." Angola, for example, owes China $17 billion, about 40 percent of its total debt.

Lourenço also appears eager to diversify Angola’s partnerships beyond China and Russia. "We're not asking countries to choose between the US and Russia and China," Kirby said. "We're simply looking for reliable, sustainable, verifiable investment opportunities that the people of Angola and the people of the continent can rely on."

Human rights organizations have urged Biden to raise concerns over Angola's rights record. Amnesty International reported that Angolan police killed at least 17 protesters between November 2020 and June 2023 as part of a long-running crackdown on dissent. It also urged Biden to demand Angola "immediately release five government critics arbitrarily detained for more than a year."

Angola, with a population of 37 million, was devastated by a 27-year civil war that began after independence from Portugal in 1975. The UNITA rebel movement challenged the MPLA, which remains in power. During the Cold War, the United States secretly supported UNITA before recognizing the MPLA government in 1993 and becoming an importer of its oil.