The US Senate has confirmed Frank Garcia as Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, ending more than a year of vacancy in Washington's most senior Africa-focused diplomatic role. Garcia, a 28-year US Navy veteran with extensive experience on the House Intelligence Committee and in defence consultancy, was approved as part of a bloc vote covering 49 nominees from the Trump administration. At his confirmation hearing, Garcia signalled a departure from aid-centred engagement, pledging to prioritise trade and investment under an "America First" framework, and pointing to the Lobito Corridor — a 1,300km rail and transport route linking Angola's Atlantic port of Lobito to mineral-rich regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia — as a model for the new approach. The corridor, backed by the US and European allies, sits at the centre of intensifying global competition with China over access to critical minerals such as copper and cobalt, which are essential to electric vehicle and clean energy supply chains.