His visit includes a trip to a shrine where enslaved Africans were baptized before being forced into the treacherous voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.

When Pope Leo XIV arrives in oil-rich Angola on Saturday, he will likely bring a message of both condemnation and encouragement to a nation where the faith is rapidly growing, amid widespread inequality and a legacy of war.

By Joshua McElwee LUANDA, April 18 (Reuters) - Pope Leo sharply decried the exploitation of natural resources in Africa on Saturday, blasting "despots and tyrants" who guarantee wealth but do not deliver on their promises,

Leo celebrated Mass at the Yaounde Airport for thousands of people, including President Paul Biya — at 93 the world’s oldest leader. The jostling, joyful atmosphere underscored the joy the third pope to visit Cameroon has brought the former French colony, where around a third of the population is Catholic.

The pope’s planned visit to a Catholic chapel in Angola that was connected to the slave trade is seen as a symbolic moment by some Africans.

By Libby George WASHINGTON, April 17 (Reuters) - Angola is seeking a budget support loan from the African Development Bank, its finance minister told Reuters, as the government pushes ahead to shield vulnerable citizens from the Middle East war’s fallout and manage debt costs.

YAOUNDE, April 18 (Reuters) - Pope Leo sets ⁠off ⁠on Saturday for Angola, where he ⁠is expected to address exploitation of natural resources in the oil-rich ​country on the third leg of his four-nation Africa tour, during which he has taken on a ‌new forceful speaking style.

An inmate died Tuesday at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, the state Department of Public Safety and Corrections said. The prisoner, Reginald Basile, 46, had been serving a life sentence since 2002 for first-degree murder,