Osvaldo Mboco stressed that meetings at the highest level always produce effects that contribute significantly to cooperation in key areas, such as the economy, security and sustainable development.
"There is one element that we cannot ignore, which is the North American interest in the Angolan State due to its geographical position, its infrastructure, especially the Lobito Corridor, and also the geopolitical importance that Angola has on the African continent", the international relations specialist told Lusa.
The President of the United States of America (USA), Joe Biden, will visit Angola between 13 and 15 October and, together with his Angolan counterpart, João Lourenço, should strengthen cooperation between Luanda and Washington and "discuss greater collaboration on shared priorities", the Presidency of the Republic announced.
Biden's visit to the country, Osvaldo Mboco believes, is part of an "American strategy of closer ties with countries that have a very significant geopolitical position", such as Angola, which can expect "greater investment" from the US.
"They (the US) can increase their involvement in larger projects in terms of infrastructure, technology, also looking a little at the agricultural sector and in fact consolidate the oil sector, which is the largest sector of cooperation between the two States", he stressed.
He even considered that if these sectors receive some investment from the US – as part of Joe Biden's visit – "it would contribute to economic diversification, which is a strategy that Angola really wants to achieve".
Mboco stressed that what drives States, and particularly the US, are interests, insisting that the Americans have an interest in access to the Angolan State's natural resources, in the issue of the supply of oil and critical minerals.
The US may also seek to "guarantee an energy security strategy" and, in addition, he stressed, they see Angola as a key player in conflict management and resolution, in the stabilisation of Southern and Central Africa".
He also believes that Washington expects Angola to "continue to carry out the structural and structuring reforms" that it has been carrying out from a political, economic and judicial point of view, which "significantly contribute to promoting transparency, good governance, combating corruption and improving Angola's image in the international system", he said.
The country should, the analyst argued, adopt a "flexible" diplomacy so as "not to create any political irritants" and jeopardise the interests of the great powers, namely China, Russia and the US, in the country.
Angola is one of the countries where there is a "race" between the three great powers, but, he argued, "clearly, the central point for the country is to always safeguard its interests" with the States that have "greater expression compared to the others", he argued.
Osvaldo Mboco also considered that Angola has adopted a "multi-vector foreign policy, seeking balance", hence his vision of "diplomacy of flexibility", believing that Biden's visit "may even awaken greater interest on the part of countries such as China and Russia to pay closer attention to the Angolan State".
Partnerships in the area of security, "due to the various risks and threats to the sovereignty of African States, which can sometimes have implications for global security", and support for clean energy, should also emerge from the meeting between Lourenço and Biden, as the expert pointed out.
