Joe Biden, whose term in office finishes in January, flew out of Washington shortly after pardoning Hunter, who had pleaded guilty to tax violations and been convicted on firearms-related charges.

The president did not respond to questions on the issue from reporters on the tarmac at Amilcar Cabral International Airport.

He was scheduled to hold a meeting with the island nation’s Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva, who greeted him at the airport.

The White House hailed Cape Verde as a “model of stable democratic governance” and said it had been a consistent partner of the US on global health, security, and other issues.

Biden, making his only visit to sub-Saharan Africa as US president, was scheduled to fly out of Cape Verde shortly after his meeting and is bound for the Angolan capital Luanda, where he will focus on a US-backed railway project that aims to divert critical minerals away from China.

The project, partly funded with a US loan, links the resource-rich Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to the Angolan port of Lobito on the Atlantic Ocean, offering a fast and efficient route for exports to the West.