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Feb. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small and U.S. business leaders are touring Angola this week with the expressed hope that the trade mission can "overcome the existing barriers" that exist between the West African nation and the United States. According to a release from the department on Monday, this is the USDA's first agri-business trade mission to Angola.
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During this week's trip, Torres Small is being accompanied by officials from the Kansas and Wisconsin departments of agriculture, along with representatives from 16 American companies and other organizations.
"USDA is invested in market access, whether new or expanded, across the globe," Torres Small said in the release. "Angola provides ample opportunities to export high-quality, high-value U.S. agricultural products, and I'm excited to see the connections that are formed over the coming days."
On Monday in Luanda -- Angola's capital city -- Torres Small met with Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Antonio Francisco de Assis to "discuss economic diversification, food security and biotechnology," she posted on X.
The same day, she also met with Augusta de Carvalho Fortes -- the state secretary for commerce and services -- to "discuss ways our countries can work to overcome the existing barriers to trade," she said on social media.
The United States has maintained diplomatic ties with Angola for 30 years and in recent months and years that relationship has seen an uptick in interest by the Biden administration.
In September, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin became the first U.S. Secretary of Defense to visit the African country. Two months later in November, President Joe Biden met with Angolan President Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco at the White House to discuss a "shared future" between the two countries.
U.S. food and agriculture exports to Angola in 2022 totaled $236.8 million, which made it the 7th largest African market for U.S. exporters. According to USDA, Angola was America's largest poultry market on the African continent and the 6th largest globally the same year.
The U.S delegation represents companies and organizations in a variety of American-made food and agricultural industries, with the majority of them representing companies with locations in the Midwest and southern regions of the United States.
For the rest of the week, the trade mission's members will be taking part in business-to-business meetings with potential business interests in Angola, and the group will then have similar discussions in neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo and Republic of the Congo, department officials said.
The U.S. agri-business industry serving as a route to help impoverished African countries dates back as far as 1991.
Angola -- which has had a strained economy in recent years -- "provides ample opportunities to export high-quality, high-value U.S. agricultural products," said Torres Small.
