STORY: U.S. Lobito Corridor pledge another empty promise: scholar
SHOOTING TIME: Recent footage
DATELINE: Dec. 5, 2024
LENGTH: 0:01:43
LOCATION: Luanda
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Angola
2. SOUNDBITE (English): STEPHEN NDEGWA, Lecturer in international relations at Nairobi-based United States International University-Africa

STORYLINE:

Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden visited Angola from Monday to Wednesday.

Biden pledged more investments for the Lobito Corridor project to connect copper-rich countries in Africa with an Angolan port.

An African scholar warns the U.S. risks making an empty promise that will ultimately harm Africa's broader economic interests.

SOUNDBITE (English): STEPHEN NDEGWA, Lecturer in international relations at Nairobi-based United States International University-Africa
"The U.S. and its Western allies, would like Africa to continue being dependent in perpetuity because then they are able to hold them at ransom geo-politically. I do not see any tangible benefit. I do not see any outcomes that are going to impact Africa's livelihoods, and even collectively, Africa as a continent will not see any significant shift in economic growth because of U.S. cooperation.
The U.S. would like to keep Africa subjugated, and especially weak. So the empty promises will continue, and it is a game that the U.S. has mastered of wait and see, and also just driving Africa to a mirage.
What the U.S. has done continued with its racist policy in Africa. We have seen the way the U.S. treats blacks in America, so it is the same mentality that comes to Africa. The U.S. will just continue with its empty promises and try to drive a wedge between Africa and China, for example, so it will continue to say things that it doesn't mean. It won't put its money where its mouth is, and it wants to definitely exploit Africa for its own benefit and pay peanuts for very expensive raw materials."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Luanda.
(XHTV)