African entrepreneurs lauded

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama said in Kenya on Saturday that African entrepreneurs could help counter violent ideologies and make the continent a hub for global growth, helping create opportunities in Africa that offset any threat from terrorism.

Obama was speaking during the first US presidential visit to Kenya, which is his father’s homeland and the biggest economy in east Africa, but has also suffered from a spate of attacks by Somali Islamist militant group al Shabaab.

President Uhuru Kenyatta called the US a “very strong supporter of Kenya” and said his country needed help to tackle security threats.

“No single country can deal with this problem,” he said. “We need to partner.”

Before the two leaders held closed-door discussions, Obama told Kenyatta: “The challenges of terrorism are ones that have to be addressed, but the opportunities for growth and prosperity… are the things that the people of Africa are most hungry for.”

Obama, who was welcomed at State House with a gun salute, said Kenya was an example of the opportunities Africa offered.

The talks at State House were attended by Deputy President William Ruto, who is facing charges at the International Criminal Court that he fomented ethnic killings after Kenya’s disputed 2007 election. He denies the charges. Kenyatta had faced similar charges, but these have since been dropped.

Earlier on Saturday, Obama spoke at a Global Entrepreneurship Summit, a USsponsored initiative to boost business ties with Africa, where China overtook the US 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,” Obama told the conference, where he was greeted by applause as he began with the words “Jambo”, the Swahili for “hello”.

“It is wonderful to be back in Kenya.”

He continued: “Entrepreneurship offers a positive alternative to the ideologies of violence and division that can all too often fill the void when young people don’t see a future for themselves.”

He said the government also needed to help by establishing the rule of law and curbing corruption, mentioning two issues often cited by businesses as major obstacles to investment.

An array of technology and other companies have started up in recent years in Africa in a bid to shift the continent away from a traditional focus of commodity exports.

“Africa is open for business,” Kenyatta said in his speech to the entrepreneurship conference.

Kenya’s economy is expected to grow by about 6 percent this year.

The economy of Ethiopia, Obama’s next stop, is forecast to expand by more than 10 percent. – Reuters