Key Highlights
- 25th July 2015, President Barack Obama and President Uhuru Kenyatta opened the 6th annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), co-hosted by the United States and the Government of Kenya in Gigiri.
- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta introduced the U.S. president describing him as a great friend to the African continent.
- On his opening remarks, Obama said “It is wonderful to be back in Kenya, I am proud to be the first U.S. president to visit Kenya,” the largest economy in East Africa.
- “I want to be here because Africa is on the move. Growth is good for all us. Kenya is leading the way!” Obama said.
- Obama Comes to Kenya and announced $1B (KSh 100 billion) support for Entrepreneurs in Kenya, Zambia and Mali.
- GES 2015, held in Nairobi, Kenya, is the first summit held in sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting the entrepreneurial dynamism of the continent.
- The summit has attracted about 1,000 outstanding entrepreneurs and investors from across the world for dynamic, outcome-oriented sessions; mentoring; and opportunities to showcase their work.
- President Obama also noted that Africa is one of the fastest growing continents in the world where people are being lifted out of poverty and the middle class is expanding.
- He argued that “This continent (Africa) needs to be a future hub of global growth, not just African growth,”
- A delegation of U.S. lawmakers, White House officials and American business leaders also accompanied the president to the GES summit; a move the U.S. embassy in Nairobi says underscores the importance the United States places on supporting Africa’s entrepreneurs.
Bilateral Talks
Later Saturday Obama meets with Kenyatta for talks at Nairobi State House. Top agendas of the meeting:
- Building strong trade ties between Kenya and U.S.,
- Financing Entrepreneurship project mechanisms,
- Countering violent extremism in Kenya and across the region,
- Boosting government transparency,
- Curbing the poaching of Kenya’s wildlife.
Security Concerns
Kenya has been targeted repeatedly by the Somali militant group Al-Shabaab.
Security in the country has been beefed for the visit of the U.S. president with at least 10,000 police officers deployed in Nairobi.
Security agencies also are on high terror alert during this period the country is hosting an important global summit making the hosting country “a possible target for terrorist.”
While much of the visit will focus on boosting trade, the other big issue on the agenda will be security when Obama meets President Kenyatta though Kenya has been able to enhance security in the last few years the country has been faced with terror threats.
