Joe Biden seemingly falls asleep during meeting with African presidents

Biden, 82, briefly closed his eyes for extended periods at least twice while sitting with the presidents of Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zambia on Wednesday, News.az reports citing foreign media.

One video recording showed Biden at the Lobito Corridor Trans-Africa Summit with his left hand to his mouth and his eyes shut for about 20 seconds.

In another clip, he leaned his head on his left hand with his index finger and middle finger between his left eye and his whole body leaning to the side, and rested in that position for at least 45 seconds before snapping out of it and slowly opening his eyes. His head nodded slightly.

It was Biden’s first visit to Africa as president, and came as he has just over a month left in the White House.

He met with his African counterparts to push forward a plan to extend a railway venture in Lobito that would allow the region to transport minerals from Congo and Zambia to the West.

The US has given a $550million loan for the project which involves refurbishing a rail system already in Angola and expanding it to the mining center of Congo.

Beyond the groundwork, the venture marks an effort to counter China’splace as the main foreign power with influence in Congo’s mining industry.

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema called the project ‘of vital importance to opening up our countries, to opening up our regions, the continent, and truly the global economy’.

The White House stated that ‘the presidents underscored their conviction’ on the corridor’.

‘Countries should not be held back from investing in their development by the need to service unsustainably high debt, and together committed to continue advocating for reform,’ stated the White House.

Biden took to X (formerly Twitter) to say that ‘the story of Angola and the United States holds a lesson for the world’.

‘Two nations with a shared history in the evil of human bondage, on opposite sides of the Cold War — and now, two nations standing shoulder to shoulder, working every day for the benefit of our people,’ he wrote.

Wednesday was not the first time on official duty that Biden has appeared to nod off – a manner that led President-elect Donald Trump to nickname him ‘Sleepy Joe’.

In November 2021, Biden seemed to fall asleep before his speech at the United Nations COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow. He appeared to doze off for roughly 20 seconds as another speaker addressed the delegates.

News.Az