Total trade in goods between the United States (US) and Africa was estimated at 71.6 billion dollars in 2024, according to US government data.
A strategic rapprochement between Africa and the US was strengthened during the presidency of Joe Biden (2021-2025), who last year made a historic visit to Angola - the first by a sitting US president.
One of Washington's biggest bets in Africa has been the Lobito Corridor, a railway infrastructure that connects Angola to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Tanzania, considered by the US, the European Union and their regional partners as a strategic pillar for the flow of critical minerals.
However, Donald Trump's return to the White House in January has left African leaders apprehensive about a possible distancing, which has been materialized through a combination of executive actions, trade and travel restrictions, and public rhetoric.
At the beginning of the year, the Donald Trump administration announced a massive cut in various forms of support for the African continent, including the suspension of some projects by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) that, among others, were associated with the Lobito Corridor and aimed at supporting women farmers.
With the dismantling of USAID, the world's largest human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment program was severely affected, with a particular impact on African countries, leading to an increase in the number of unemployed and the closure of clinics.
Analysts have warned that these US cuts in development aid could encourage countries in Southern Africa, a region that includes Angola and Mozambique, to move closer to China.
In addition to withdrawing support, Donald Trump, who has a very restrictive anti-immigration policy in place, signed an executive order earlier this month that prohibits travel to US territory from 12 countries, including several African states, such as Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, among others.
In an escalation of the repression of immigration, a State Department memorandum, released by the press this week, shows that this list could include 36 more countries - 25 of them African, including Angola, Cape Verde and São Tomé and Príncipe.
The memorandum identified several criteria that, in the assessment of the US government, were not being met by these states, such as not having "any competent or cooperative central government authority to produce reliable identity documents or other civil documents" or suffering from "widespread government fraud".
Added to all this are the tariffs imposed by the United States on Africa, with the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) warning of the economic consequences of these measures.
The president of the AfDB, Akinwumi Adesina, stated last month that 47 of the 54 African countries will be directly affected by this new US trade policy, which will potentially reduce the export revenues of these nations and their foreign exchange reserves (assets in foreign currency that a country holds, controlled by its monetary authority).
Although Africa represents about 20 percent of the world's population and less than 3 percent of the world's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Adesina stressed that there is a scenario for growth: ten of the 20 most dynamic economies in the world are in Africa.
Luanda will host the 17th edition of the US-Africa Business Summit, the most important business forum between the United States and the African continent, from 22 to 25 June, with the Lobito Corridor among the highlights.
More than 1,500 participants — including Heads of State, Prime Ministers, African Ministers, senior US Government officials and business leaders from both continents — are expected in the capital, at this event co-organised by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) and the Government of the Republic of Angola.
