President Uhuru Kenyatta meets Kenyans living in US, terms Leaders' summit a success

WASHINGTON: President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday night lauded United States President Barack Obama for the initiative to host African leaders to a summit aimed at fostering stronger business ties.

President Kenyatta said the summit has been successful in promoting the positive side of Africa and this will lead to stronger trade partnerships between the continent and US corporations.

“The negative side of Africa’s story has been given prominence for far too long. This summit gave us an opportunity to profile the positive side,” he said.

Speaking when he met the Kenyan diaspora in Washington, D.C, President Kenyatta said Africa is turning around its fate and the US-Africa Leaders Summit that brought together 47 Heads of State and Obama came at the right time.

President Kenyatta said the summit made it easy for Kenya and other African countries to directly engage with US firms and policy makers at the highest level.

He said missions to attract investment partnerships have always been there but they have always been at national levels and the results have not always been optimal.

“I thank President Obama for this initiative and I must say it has been successful,” he said.

He said there was no denying that African nations have challenges but it was a fact that they were exceeded by the existing opportunities.

“There is no country that has no challenges at all. We are a continent that is ready to turn those challenges into opportunities,” he said.

The President also touched on the expansion of Chinese business into Africa.

“It is not that we went knocking on China’s doors. China woke up to the reality of the opportunities existing in Africa,” he said.

He added; “I am very glad America has woken up to these realities”.

President Kenyatta said Africa, with a population of close to a billion people who are young, was placed at an advantage to be innovative, compared to the rest of the world.

The President said Kenya’s large diaspora population in the US gives it an edge to take advantage of the business opportunities.

On Tuesday night, President Kenyatta had assured Americans that the bond between Kenya and the United States is unbreakable.

He said there should be no anxiety about the relationship between Kenya and its traditional allies in the West.