The $4 billion project was the Biden administration’s signature initiative in Africa. Early signs are that the Trump team supports it, too, for mineral access if nothing else.
An 800-mile rail corridor stretching from Angola’s northern border to the Atlantic Ocean was former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s signature project in Africa, meant to counter Chinese influence and reshape America’s engagement with the continent.
When President Trump came into office this year, he quickly moved to dismantle decades of American aid to Africa, raising fears that the United States was pulling back from its commitments. The future of America’s involvement in the rail project was an open question.
But this week, the acting U.S. ambassador in Angola, James Story, gave the first indication that the Trump administration was on board with the project, the Lobito Corridor, which is expected to improve America’s access to minerals like cobalt and copper that are critical to the clean-energy transition.
Mr. Story, who arrived in Angola last October, is leading a delegation of more than a dozen, mostly Western envoys on a three-day publicity tour along the rail line, including visits with local politicians.
As Mr. Trump continues to craft his own Africa team, the tour offered clues to how he plans to shape his policy on the continent, and the ways in which it may align with or depart from Mr. Biden’s approach.
“The Trump administration is all about making business to favor the United States,” said Osvaldo Mboco, a professor of international relations at the Technical University of Angola in the capital, Luanda.