‘Africa is on the move’: Obama hails efforts in Kenya to tackle poverty

U.S. President Barack Obama told African entrepreneurs in Kenya on Saturday they could help counter violent ideologies and drive growth in Africa, and said governments had to help by ensuring the rule of law was upheld and by tackling corruption. Obama was addressing a Global Entrepreneurship Summit at the start of the first presidential visit to Kenya, his father’s homeland and the biggest economy in east Africa, which has been hit by a spate of attacks by Somali Islamist group al Shabaab. Security was expected to top the agenda in talks later on Saturday with President Uhuru Kenyatta but Obama is also keen to increase business ties with Africa, where China overtook the United States as the continent’s biggest trade partner in 2009.

Africa is on the move. Africa is one of the fastest growing regions in the world.

President Barack Obama

On Saturday evening, he will hold talks with Kenyatta before attending a state dinner. Discussions are expected to focus on security and counter-terrorism cooperation. "Proud to be the first American president to visit Kenya. Happy to see family, and to talk with young Kenyans about the future,“ Obama wrote on his Twitter account after arriving on Friday and meeting members of his extended family for dinner. Some Africans complain that Obama, whose father is buried in western Kenya, has not given paid enough attention to the continent during his presidency.

It is the time for a new generation of Africans to promote inclusive prosperity.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta

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