Kenya:Anxiety Builds as Obama Visits
By Eric Sande
The first African-American President of the United States, Barack Obama left Washington for Kenya via Germany on Thursday in a trip that will also include a stop in the Ethiopian capital and a visit to the home of the African Union.
Obama is expected in Kenya today, Friday July 24 with a huge delegation of entrepreneurs who will pursue investment opportunities during the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES).
He will be attending the 6th Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) that will held at the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
The GES summit is organized annually since 2009 and has emerged as a global platform connecting emerging entrepreneurs with leaders from businesses, international organizations and governments looking to support them.
For the past month, Nairobi has undergone a face lift that has seen potholes on major roads filled and flower beds spruced up along the main highway from the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to the city centre.
According to President Uhuru Kenyatta the visit will enable him and president Obama discuss a range of issues including war on terror and investment opportunities.
“There cannot be trade; there cannot be entrepreneurship if we do not have a secure environment. So it is important that we are able to ensure that we can guarantee security for all in order to be able to focus on the issue of trade,” he said.
Obama will address regional security issues and trade, and also touch on matters relating to democracy, poverty and human rights in the region.
Joining him on the trip is National Security Advisor Susan Rice, foreign policy aide Ben Rhodes and White House spokesman Josh Earnest.
"Despite its many challenges — and we have to be clear-eyed about all the challenges that the continent still faces — Africa is a place of incredible dynamism, some of the fastest-growing markets in the world, extraordinary people, extraordinary resilience," Mr Obama said ahead of the trip.
Kenya’s Opposition chief Raila Odinga on July 22 said they would accord President Obama, who will arrive this evening for a three-day visit, a warm reception.
“We call on our people to give President Obama a befitting welcome. The world over, we are known for our friendliness to visitors. We have a historic chance to put this on display in a significant way. Let us rise to the occasion,” he said.