President Joe Biden (00:00):
… I want to ensure you all have seats. We're gathered in a solemn location because to fully consider how far our two countries have come in our friendship, we have to remember how we began. We hear them in the wind and the waves. Young women, young men, born free in the highlands of Angola, only be captured, bound and forced in a death march along this very coast to this spot by slave traders in the year 1619. In the building next to us they were baptized into a foreign faith against their will, their names changed against their will to [inaudible 00:01:00] where they were sold into servitude and became two of the first enslaved Americans in a place that 150 years later would become the United States of America.
(01:11)
[Inaudible 00:01:12] the beginning of slavery in the United States. Cruel, brutal, dehumanizing, our nation's original sin, original sin, one that haunted America and casted a long shadow ever since when the bloody civil war that nearly tore my nation apart, for the long battle with Jim Crow into the 1960s, for the civil rights and voting rights movement, which got me involved in public life, during which American cities were burned, to the still unfinished reckoning with racial injustice in my country today. Historians believe people from Angola accounted for a significant number of all enslaved people shipped to America. Today, millions of African-Americans have roots in Angola. As I said at the US-African Leaders Summit that was held in Washington, two years I held in Washington, two years ago. Our people lie at the heart of a deep and profound connection that forever binds Africa and the United States together. We remember the stolen men and women and children who were brought to our shores in chains, subjected to unimaginable cruelty.
(02:36)
Here with us today are three Americans who are direct descendants of Anthony and Isabella, whose first enslaved Americans, Africans in American. Wanda Tucker of Hamilton, Virginia. Wanda, you there? There you are, Wanda. God love you. Her brother Vincent and Carlita as well. Thank you for being here. We're going to write history, not erase history. The Tuckers learned their family history around the dinner table. That history led Wanda here in Angola a few years ago. She did not speak the language, but that didn't matter. When she arrived, Wanda said she felt something profound, like she'd come home. That was her comment to me. She called it a connection without words. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm here today to honor that connection between our people and to pay tribute to the generation of Angolans and American families like the Tuckers.
(03:39)
I've served in government for over 50 years. I know I only look like I'm 40 years old, but I've been around hanging in the government for, I hate to admit it, for 50 years, but in that 50 years I've learned a lot. Perhaps most importantly, I've learned that while history can be hidden, it cannot and should not be erased. It should be faced. It's our duty to face our history, the good, the bad and the ugly, the whole truth. That's what great nations do. That's why I chose to speak here at the National Slavery Museum today just as I toured and that's why your president visited the National Museum of African-American culture in Washington DC, the second most visited museum in the States and he did it a few years ago. He saw what I see, the stark contradiction between my country's founding principles of liberty, justice and equality and the way we long treated people from Angola and from throughout Africa.
(04:44)
I've often said, America is the only nation in the world founded on an idea. Most countries are founded based on race, ethnicity, religion, geography, some other attribute, but the United States is founded on an idea, one embedded in our Declaration of Independence, that is that all men and women are created equal and deserved to be treated equally throughout their lives. It's abundantly clear today we have not lived up to that idea, but we've never fully walked away from it either and that's due in no small part to the determination and dreams of African-Americans, including Angolan Americans, the proud descendants of diaspora, who helped build my nation as they rebuilt their own families and their own sense of self. They were the forebearers as well. Resilient, faithful, even hopeful. Hopeful that joy would cometh in the morning as it says in the Bible. Hopeful that our past would not be the story of our future and hopeful in time the United States would write a different story in partnership with the people brought here in chains to my nation from Africa. It's a story of mutual respect and mutual progress.
(06:00)
That's the history that brings me here, the first American president ever to visit Angola over time and I'm proud to be. Over time, the relationship between our countries has been transformed from distance to genuine warmth. Today our relationship is as strong as it's ever been. Throughout my presidency it has been my goal, goal of the United States to build a strong partnership with peoples and nations across the continent of Africa. True partnerships aimed at achieving shared goals, bringing to bear of the dynamism of America's private sector and the expertise of our government to support aspirations of African entrepreneurs, experts, leaders, both inside and outside of government because we know the challenges that define our age demand African leadership. One of every four human beings on earth will live in Africa by the year 2050 and the ingenuity, determination of young Africans in particular, like the young society leaders I just met with here today, will be undeniable forces in that human progress. That's why I'm so optimistic because of that generation in no small part will be in their hands, in the hands of people across Africa, to expand access to clean energy, to tackle threats of global health, to grow a global middle class. In many ways, Africa's success is and will be the world's success that I said at the United States US-Africa Summit. The United States is all in on Africa's future.
(07:47)
Two years ago, I pledged to deliver $55 million in new investments in Africa and to mobilize American business to close new deals with African partners. Two years ago, we were way ahead of schedule. More than 20 heads of US government agencies and members of my cabinet have traveled Africa, delivering over $40 billion in investments thus far and we've announced nearly 1,200 new business deals between African-American companies and American companies totaling worth $52 billion, including investments in solar energy, telecom, mobile finance, infrastructure and partnerships with American Airlines to expand opportunities for tourism, so you don't have to fly to Paris to get here. Although Paris is pretty nice. Here in Angola alone the United States has invested $3 billion during my short presidency. We see the bonds between our countries across sectors, from clean energy, to healthcare, to sports. The American National Basketball Association launched basketball Africa League and Angola is the reigning champion. We see the impact of American culture across African culture across the American culture, from music, to entertainment, to fashion, to arts and so much more. Student exchanges between our countries are essential and must increase. Students in both countries can better understand one another if they know the country, if they visit the country, if they're educated in the other country and an increased connection between us makes a big difference.
(09:35)
Being all in on African means making sure African voices are heard at the tables that matter most. Under my leadership in the United States, we brought in the African Union as a permanent member of the G20 economies and we insisted on more African representation among the leaders of the International Monetary Fund and other world financial institutions. We've also pushed to ensure that developing nations do not have to choose between paying down unsustainable debt and being able to invest in their own people and we're using our own voice to increase Africa's presence in the UN Security Council at the United Nations. That should happen. You can clap for that folks. You should be in there. United States continues to be the world's largest provider of humanitarian aid and development assistance and that's going to increase. That's the right thing for the wealthiest nation of the world to do and today I'm announcing over $1 billion in new humanitarian support for Africans displaced from homes by historic droughts and food insecurity.
(10:46)
We know African leaders and citizens are seeking more than just aid. You seek investment, so the United States is expanding our relationship all across Africa, from assistance to aid, from investment to trade, moving from patrons to partners, to help bridge the infrastructure gap. I was told by the way when I got elected I could never get an infrastructure bill passed because the last guy spent eight years saying, next month. Four years then next month, well, guess what folks? We've done it. A trillion, a trillion, $300 billion for infrastructure, to narrow the digital divide, drive inclusive sustainable economic growth. We're looking for partners who understand that the right question in the year 2024 is not what can the United States do for the people of Africa, it's what can we do together for the people of Africa? That's what we can do.
(11:45)
Nowhere in Africa is the answer more exciting than here in Angola. It starts with our government whose partnership is stronger, deeper, more effective and active than any point in history. It's testament to your president who had the vision to carry this relationship forward and it's a testament to Angolan citizens across the private sector and civil society, who have forged strong bonds with your American counterparts and together we're engaged in a major joint project to close the infrastructure gap for the benefit of Angolans, Africans across the continent, Americans and the world will all benefit as you benefit. You can produce much more agriculture, for example, than states that can. You're going to increase their longevity and you're going to increase your impact with profit. It's called the Lobito Corridor. We're building railroad lines from Angola to the port of Lobito in Zambia and the DRC and ultimately all the way from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean. It'll be the first transcontinental railroad in Africa and the biggest American rail investment outside of America and I must tell you up front with American press here, I'm probably the most pro-rail guy in America.
(13:02)
I've ridden over 1,300,000 thousand miles on a daily basis to my work, 220 miles a day for the last 50 years. Well, I didn't do it as president, I stayed in the White House a lot, but all kidding aside, folks, we can do this. We can do this. It's in our power. We'll not only generate significant employment, we'll also allow individual countries to maximize their own domestic resources for the benefit of their people and sell critical minerals that power of the world's energy transformation and our fight against climate change and to transport that at a fraction of the time and lower costs. A ship that used to take over 45 days will now take 45 hours. That's a game changer. That increases profit, that increases opportunity. Lobito Corridor represents the right way to invest in full partnership with the country and its people. As part of this project we'll install enough clean energy power to power hundreds of thousands of homes, expand high-speed internet across for millions of Angolans, which is as consequential today as electricity was two generations ago and we're investing in agriculture and food security, fulfilling the needs of countries without agricultural capacity and expanding opportunities for countries growing the crops, connecting farmers across the along the Lobito Corridor to new markets, expanding opportunity and prosperity for you doing that, having the means to do it.
(14:35)
The United States understands how we invest in Africa is as important as how much we invest. In too many places, 10 years after the so-called investment was made, workers are still coming home on a dirt road and without electricity, a village without a school, a city without a hospital, a country under crushing debt. We seek a better way. Transparent, high-standard, open-access investments, that protect workers and the rule of law and the environment. It can be done and will be done. Folks, the partnership between Angola and United States also extends to supporting peace and security in this region and beyond. President Lourenço, I want to thank him for his leadership and mediation in regional conflicts. I also want to thank him for Angola speaking out against Russia's unprovoked war against Ukraine. It matters. It matters when leaders speak out.
(15:40)
Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, I'm in the final weeks of my presidency. You don't have to clap for that. You can if you want, but I wanted to come to Angola. Although I've been chairman of the African-American subcommittee for a long time, I had never made it to Angola. Although I don't know exactly what the future will hold, I know the future runs through Angola, through Africa. I mean it sincerely. I'm not kidding. I know that any nation that wants to thrive in the next century must work as partners with workers, entrepreneurs and businesses here in Africa. I know that the connection between our communities, our universities, our sports, our civil societies, our families, our people, will only grow deeper. We have to stay focused. The story of Angola and the United States holds a lesson for the world. Two nations with a shared history and evil of human bondage. Two nations on opposite sides of the Cold War defying struggle in the late part of the 20th century and now two nations standing shoulder to shoulder working together every day for the mutual benefit of our people.
(16:50)
It's a reminder that no nation need be permanently the adversary of another, a testament to the human capacity for reconciliation and proof that from the horrors of slavery and war there is a way forward. I stand here today, I mean this sincerely, deeply optimistic. By the way, 20 years ago when I was a senator, I had a cranial aneurysm. They got me to the hospital in time. I remember asking the doctor, what are my chances? He said, "Oh, your chances are good. They're about 30%." After it was all over, he was deciding whether or not it was congenital or environmental and I said, "I don't give a damn. I'm here." He said, "You know what your problem is, Senator? You're a congenital optimist." I am about the possibilities and progress that lie just beyond the horizon.
(17:47)
Together we can and will chart a future worthy of great nations, worthy of the highest aspirations of our people. We just have to remember who we are. We're Angolans, we're Americans. As often say to the American people, there's nothing beyond our capacity if we work together and today I say to the people of Angola and all the people of Africa, there is nothing beyond our capacity if we do it together. Thank you and God bless you and keep you all safe. Thank you, thank you, thank you and thank you for waiting. I got my hat. Thanks everybody. I really mean it. You're very patient.