U.S. President Joe Biden landed in Angola on Monday for a visit focused on a U.S.-backed railway project and on the legacy of slavery.
But his decision to pardon his son Hunter Biden threatened to overshadow the official agenda of his two-day visit.
The President, whose term in office finishes in January, flew out of Washington shortly after pardoning his son.
Hunter had pleaded guilty to tax violations and been convicted on firearms-related charges.
Biden’s visit to Angola fulfils a promise to visit Sub-Saharan Africa during his presidency.
The visit also aims to bolster the Lobito Corridor project, which links resource-rich Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to the Angolan port of Lobito on the Atlantic Ocean.
At stake are vast supplies of minerals like copper and cobalt.
These minerals are found in Congo and are a key component of batteries and other electronics.
China is the top player in Congo, which has become an increasing concern to Washington.
China signed an agreement with Tanzania and Zambia in September to revive a rival railway line to Africa’s eastern coast.
“It’s going to create incredible economic opportunities here on the continent,” Biden’s national security spokesperson John Kirby said.
Kirby was speaking about the Lobito Corridor during a briefing to reporters on Air Force One during the flight to Luanda.
He said that Biden would unveil additional commitments to the project during his visit, as well as to health, climate and clean energy programs.
However, reporters on the flight had more questions about the Hunter Biden pardon than they did about investment in Africa.
The President’s spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre responded to them mostly by repeating Joe Biden’s own statement on the issue.
On Sunday, Biden said that he had pardoned his son, Hunter.
“Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,” he said in a statement released by the White House.
“I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision.”
Biden did not answer reporters’ questions on the pardon during a brief refueling stop in the small island nation of Cape Verde, off the coast of West Africa, earlier on Monday.
During his visit to Angola, Biden is scheduled to meet President Joao Lourenco and the Zambian leader President Hakainde Hichilema.
He will also tour the national slavery museum and various facilities in Lobito.
The Lobito Corridor is partly funded by a U.S. loan.
This corridor would facilitate and expedite export of critical minerals towards the United States.
This is being seen as a way to divert some of those resources from China.
“There is no Cold War on the continent. We’re not asking countries to choose between us and Russia and China,” Kirby said.
He added that the U.S. is simply looking for reliable, sustainable, verifiable investment opportunities that the people of Angola and the people of the continent can rely on.
Kirby explained that this is because too many countries have relied on spotty investment opportunities and are now racked by debt.
The Lobito project is backed by global commodities trader Trafigura, Portuguese construction group Mota-Engil and railway operator Vecturis.
The U.S. Development Finance Corporation has provided a $550 million loan to refurbish the 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) rail network from Lobito to Congo.
