 Hello! Welcome to Semafor Africa, where we believe in keeping our promises. That’s ostensibly what President Joe Biden is doing on his visit to Angola this week — fulfilling a pledge he made during the US-Africa Leaders Summit in December 2022. He’s showing off the Lobito Corridor initiative this week, which is the capstone of his US-Africa strategy. It has stood out as a success at a time when Republicans have criticized the Biden administration’s overall US-Africa policy. Some will see Biden’s visit to Angola as almost irrelevant now, given the wave of change sweeping through Washington DC since last month’s election — and the Angolans are watching closely. However, my sources tell me that Trump won’t change position on the Lobito Corridor as his likely Africa appointees are keen to build on the model, for which the US has mobilized $5 billion so far. And it is widely acknowledged as a way to counter China on the continent. This will play well with the China hawks in the new White House. But the sheer unpredictability of Trump’s approach to policymaking means nobody can be sure how it will play out under his White House. That uncertainty is the reason some in Luanda remain nervous. As one person I spoke with from Luanda told me, these are “realistic concerns.” | 
