• Home
• /
• Africa

Obama in Kenya: 'Africa is on the move'

Nairobi - Obama announced more than $1 billion new commitments from the US government.

President Barack Obama heralded Africa as a continent "on the move" Saturday as he opened a US-sponsored business summit in Kenya, the East African nation where he has deep family ties. 
"Africa is one of the fastest growing regions of the world," Obama said. "People are being lifted out of poverty." 
Obama's visit to Kenya - the first by a sitting US president - has been highly anticipated in a nation that views him as a local son. The president's late father was born in Kenya and many family members still live here, including his elderly step-grandmother. 
"This is personal for me," Obama said. "There's a reason why my name is Barack Hussein Obama." 
Much of the president's visit is focused on boosting business and security ties with Kenya, a growing economy grappling with the threat of terrorism - most notably from the Somalia-based Al Shabab network. Nearly two dozen US lawmakers and 200 American investors have joined Obama on his trip, which also includes a stop in Ethiopia. 
Speaking at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit on Saturday, Obama announced more than $1 billion new commitments from the US government, as well as American banks, foundations and philanthropists. Half of the money will go to support women and young people, who Obama says face bigger obstacles when trying to start businesses. 
"Africa is the world's newest and most promising frontier of limitless opportunity," Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said. "Gone are the days when the only lens to view our continent was one of despair and indignity."

• Obama dines with Kenyan family after arriving in father's homeland