President Biden returns today from the first US presidential trip to the continent of Africa in more than a decade.

Mr. Biden visited Angola to further U.S. investments on the continent.

But the Americans are playing a game of catch up with the Chinese, who've spent decades and billions investing, extracting and some say exploiting developing countries.

In Angola this week, a new U.S. commitment to Africa's future.

As president, Biden promised $600 million in funding for a multinational railway project linking Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola, all part of the Trans Africa Libido Corridor Railway, a key hub for mineral exports.

The United States is all in on Africa.

The future of the world is here in Africa and in goal.

Yet that $600 million U.S. investment is small potatoes compared to China, which invested $21.7 billion in the continent in 2023 alone.

This railway will not only speed up the economic development of two of the world's most underdeveloped countries, but also change local people's lives.

Over the last 20 years, China has become sub-Saharan Africa's largest bilateral trading partner, accounting for 20% of the region's exports.

The main commodities export aid are heavy metals, minerals and fuel.

In exchange, China has provided billions in infrastructure investments in the region.

In almost 24 years, China has invested over $182 billion in loans to 53 African nations.

With China's Belt and Road Initiative launched in 2013, a trillion plus dollar global infrastructure investment project has sent over $91 billion into Africa building transportation, energy and mining infrastructure.

And at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing in September, President Xi Jinping promised an additional $51 billion to be invested in the continent.

Strong value add on free fund.

China is willing to deepen cooperation with Africa in the areas of industry and agriculture, infrastructure, trade and investment.

But all of this comes at a cost.

Some of the projects built aren't economically sustainable, and sub-Saharan African nations are now over $134 billion in debt to China.

China has also been accused of bribing local officials to secure contracts.

And to further understand the race for influence in Africa, I'm joined by Themba Pizzo.

These are Laila.

He's the director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Welcome back.

Thanks for being here.

Thank you very much.

So Biden's visit to Angola marks sort of his last big trip as president is the first visit to the nation by a sitting US president.

How big a deal is that?

What message do you take away from that trip?

It's a big deal.

The timing notwithstanding, this signals that the US is committed to continuing good relationship with African countries.

He made statement today.

New commitment, $600 million that will be investing in this project, particularly the Blue Beetle corridor.

You remember Amna that for eight years since President Obama left North Africa and no US president went to Africa.

And even though President Biden hosted the US Africa Leaders Summit.

He made a commitment that did not necessarily translate.

So people have been wondering if Africa still mattered.

And the fact that he made the effort to go even with 50 days before he steps down, that's very impressive.

And people would take it as such.

When you say it sends a message that Africa matters to the US, but you saw in that report how dramatically different the level of investment from China is versus what the US has been investing on the continent.

How much of Biden's visit is fueled by this need or want to try to counter Chinese influence?

And is the American effort too little too late?

I think it's a little late, but late doesn't mean never you can catch up.

I think the US spent the last 35 years not really taking Africa seriously after the collapse of the Berlin Wall.

The US was the only superpower they could have really restructure and reframe the world.

But that was a missed opportunity.

That was a missed opportunity.

30 years of this.

So now that you have China that will seize that moment, investing over $170 billion in various projects.

China really has planted its flag and uses to catch up.

How is that going down on the ground?

I know you've visited Angola and officials there at the little bit of corridor at the the port terminus there.

What are they telling you about these?

What they're excited about this.

When you talk to the officials, they're very excited by this project because to them, it shows to the population that they're doing something.

The challenge is the average Angolan was not really aware of this.

If you talk to the farmers along the railroad, they didn't only think about if you talk to civil society.

So I think the work has been cut out for both Angola and the US to try to translate this so that the stakeholders, the Angolan people particularly feel invested in this.

We know, of course, that this is critical when it comes to us need for the minerals that we're talking about exporting from African nations to fuel the technology future the US is trying to build.

But we also know these nations are much more than just exporters of these minerals.

You're talking about a continent that's home to 1.5 billion people.

So to have superpowers competing to some degree for resources, for partnership and alliance.

What does that mean for a country like Angola or Zambia or Kenya?

So for Angola, it's about options and choices.

You know, African countries, on average, welcome great power competition because you give them a chance to choose who they want to deal with.

And Angola is kind of the epitome of this.

You find Russian, Chinese, Brazilian, everybody in Angola.

However, I think the big challenge for the US will be because the US sees China as an adversary and vice versa.

They cannot.

Neither China nor the US can can afford to do this thing without collaborating.

China controls the mines.

So if the US is going to evacuate these products out of Congo and Zambia to this very road, it will be a corridor.

But if the Chinese control the mines, for the Chinese to have leverage, they can block the mines and push it towards the Indian Ocean, which is the tradition where they've been taking the resources as well.

So you cannot avoid this collaboration.

In fact, when I was in Angola, I'm not just a quick story.

I was talking to the board of the Benguela Railroad and they told me know recently we ordered 100 locomotives from China.

I say, why just China?

North America?

They say, Well, but we asked the Chinese to put GE engines in those locomotives.

So that's why the prime example of collaboration, the GE engines, couldn't get there without approval from the State Department or Department of Commerce.

Well, as you know, these investments that President Biden is making now only really make a difference if they're continued by the next administration.

The incoming president, President elect Trump, has a very different world view than the outgoing president, President Biden.

Do you see those investments like this railway corridor being continued by the next administration?

That's the question we all are asking.

But we know a couple of things about President Trump.

We know that he's keen on counteracting China.

So this is an opportunity for.

To do that.

The challenge is I said it's not going to be easy because China is deeply involved in these countries.

But then to the question that we ask also is when President Trump chooses to counteract China, will punish China or will he punish the Africans for partnering with China?

So time will tell us what President Trump does.

But we know that he definitely will take this seriously.

Time will tell if indeed that is them up here.

So these are Layla from the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Great to have you here.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm.