The US is a master at pivoting and changing its allegiances and focus when there are benefits to doing so. South Africa must learn this lesson from both the US and Angola, and not be forever trapped in Cold War dynamics.

It was a weakened Joe Biden who landed in Angola for his first state visit to sub-Saharan Africa earlier this week. Now in the sunset of his presidency, America's outgoing president went on a state visit to a country that is key to the United States' strategic interests, Angola.

Regardless of the outcome of a bruising election and Biden's humiliating withdrawal from the race back in July, the significance of his state visit to Angola cannot be understated.

Here is why it matters. First, the US needs to power its economy. Regardless of incoming President-elect Donald Trump's fit of pique and threats of unbridled tariffs, the US cannot function without raw materials and innovations from other parts of the world.

Empires were built on the extraction of minerals and raw material from "poor" countries. It is no different now. It would help if the US toned down its predictable threatening tone and recognised the value of shared interest. Biden's sojourn to Angola is about this.

He announced the multibillion-dollar Lobito Corridor Development Project, a crucial rail project that will link the mineral-rich Zambia, Congo and Angola to the Atlantic.

These countries are rich in the critical minerals that the US...