President Biden returns today from the first U.S. presidential trip to the continent of Africa in more than a decade.

Mr. Biden visited Angola to further U.S. investments on the continent, but the Americans are playing a game of catch-up with the Chinese,

who've spent decades and billions investing, extracting, and some say exploiting developing countries.

In Angola this week, a new U.S. commitment to Africa's future, as President Biden promised

$600 million in funding for a multinational railway project linking Zambia, the Democratic Republic

of the Congo, and Angola,

all part of the Trans-Africa Lobito Corridor Railway, a key hub for mineral exports.

The United States is all in on Africa. The future of the world is here in Africa, in Angola.

Yet that $600 million U.S. investment is small potatoes compared to China, which invested

$21.7 billion in the continent in 2023 alone.

This railway will not only speed up the economic development of two of the world's most

underdeveloped countries, but also change local people's lives.

Over the last 20 years, China has become sub-Saharan Africa's largest bilateral trading

partner, accounting for 20 percent of the region's exports.

The main commodities exported are heavy metals, minerals, and fuel.

In exchange, China has provided billions in infrastructure investments in the region.

In almost 24 years, China has invested over $182 billion in loans to 53 African nations.

China's Belt and Road Initiative launched in 2013, a trillion-plus dollar global infrastructure

investment project, has sent over $91 billion into Africa, building transportation,

energy, and mining infrastructure.

And at the Forum on China-Africa cooperation in Beijing in September, President Xi Jinping

promised an additional $51 billion to be invested in the continent.

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