French President Nicolas Sarkozy will visit Angola on May 23, where he is expected to sign several trade deals. Angola is mainly interested in French energy company Total’s ability to develop the southwestern African nation’s ultradeep oil fields.

Sarkozy’s May 23 visit will be the first by a French president to Angola in 10 years. Traveling with him are a number of businesspeople, including ranking officials from the defense electronics company Thales, from the Banque Societe Generale and from energy company Total SA. Deals regarding telecommunications, beverages and credit facilities are expected to be signed during the visit.

Most critical for Angola are deals expected with Total to develop the country’s ultradeep oil fields, at a depth of 1,500 to 3,000 meters underwater (about 4,900 to 9,800 feet). While Angola is a leading oil producer in Africa, producing some 1.9 million barrels per day (bpd) from onshore and near-shore fields, Angola’s bid to become an African geopolitical powerhouse on par with Nigeria and South Africa requires it to consolidate and expand its resource base. Nigeria has been Africa’s leading oil producer, though militancy since 2006 in its Niger Delta region has shuttered a quarter of its 2.4 million bpd output. Angola already has achieved one significant expansion of its energy sector by more than doubling output from 900,000 bpd in 2002, when the Angolan civil war ended with the defeat of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola rebel group.