Why hasn’t US President Biden made any state visits to Africa?

The outgoing US leader has not prioritised Africa enough, some say, as Russia and China make inroads into the continent.

Joe Biden’s planned trip to Angola on October 13 was meant to be historic. It would have been his first visit to Africa during his tenure as president of the United States.

But as Hurricane Milton advanced on Florida last week, the White House postponed the trip to an unspecified date, alongside a visit to Germany where Biden was scheduled to talk to European leaders about the Ukraine war before heading to Luanda.

The outgoing US president’s trip was him finally making good on several promises to visit Africa. For Angola, the visit was set to deliver a diplomatic victory for President Joao Lourenco’s troubled government while giving the Southern African nation regional bragging rights as Washington’s chosen country after a decade’s absence.

While the cause of the postponement is reasonable, critics say Biden never really seemed keen on prioritising Africa in the first place, even as rival world powers like China and Russia aggressively expand their footprints on a continent they consider important for its significant natural resources, rapidly growing population, and sizeable voting bloc in the United Nations.

Since Biden’s election into office in 2020, he has not set foot in any African country, despite his administration insisting that it prioritises the needs of the continent’s 1.3 billion people and respects its leaders. In contrast, Biden has managed to travel to Europe several times – five times to the United Kingdom alone – as well as to countries in the Middle East, Asia and Latin America.