Thousands march against Angola govt, hunger ahead of Biden’s visit

AS the United States president, Joe Biden, prepares for his first visit to Africa next week, thousands of Angolans took to the streets of Luanda in a peaceful demonstration against hunger and the governance of President João Lourenço and his party, the MPLA, which has ruled Angola since independence.

The protest was the largest since the contested elections of 2022, where the opposition party, UNITA, denounced widespread irregularities.

Chants of “Lourenço Out,” “The People Are Starving,” and “We Reject Dictatorship” echoed through the streets, reflecting the growing discontent among Angolans.

According to the UN, two million Angolans face food insecurity in a country that is Africa’s second-largest oil producer. The economic crisis, exacerbated by the worst drought in 40 years, has devastated agriculture, which employs 85 per cent of the population.

The drought, combined with poor governance, has severely impacted the livelihoods of millions. Angola’s Catholic bishops issued a strong statement in October, urging President Lourenço to make hunger a national priority.

Biden’s trip to Angola will highlight the mineral-rich region’s growing importance and his administration’s financial support of a massive, cross-country rail project there that could extend the world’s reach into mines pumping out copper, cobalt and electric vehicle battery metals.

Biden is slated to travel to Angola from Dec. 2 to Dec. 4, where he’ll meet with President Lourenço and fulfill his vow to visit the continent, marking the first visit by a sitting president since the Obama administration.

Senior White House officials told reporters on a call Tuesday that the Biden administration has championed African leadership on boards across the world, supported a record number of top officials visiting the continent and is following through on a vow made in 2022 to invest $55 billion in the region.