In Angola, which has long embraced China and Russia, a major realignment appears to be underway as the U.S. makes significant diplomatic inroads.

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This oil-rich nation long turned to China for infrastructure and to Russia for tanks and missiles, a lingering legacy of Cold War power rivalries.

But as Secretary of State Antony Blinken walked alongside top Angolan officials in their palm-filled capital this week and toured an exhibition dedicated to a vast U.S.-funded railway project, a major realignment appeared to be underway by a country whose flag still bears imagery recalling a hammer and sickle.

The country rejected China and embraced Washington and Europe to help build a $250 million rail corridor that will channel cobalt, copper and other critical minerals out of Angola and its neighbors, diversifying U.S. supplies of raw materials critical to the green revolution. Angolan and American officials hope it will spark a broader economic boom, and the U.S.-funded Export-Import Bank has committed to a $900 million loan for a U.S.-made solar panel project along the rail line, the bank’s largest-ever investment in that kind of installation in Africa.