President Uhuru Kenyatta says that he will give Barack Obama one of the most memorable homecomings in the world when he tours Kenya from Friday this week.
“I need not tell you how eagerly we have all waited for the day,” he said today at après briefing at State House, “or how keen we all are to make it the most memorable of homecomings. All I can say is that those who doubted the strength of the friendship between the two countries, or the depth of our engagement, had better re-examine their assumptions.”
His plea to Kenya was simple “All I ask is that you give President Obama a hearty welcome when he visits our country.”
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In his speech, he paid tribute to Kenya’s relations with the US and how the Global Entrepreneurship Summit will boost Kenya’s economy. Here is an edited version of his speech.
“It is my pleasure to co-host, with President Obama of the United States of America, the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Nairobi this weekend. Since its inauguration in the USA five years ago, it has grown into a truly global gathering of entrepreneurs, innovators, Government leaders and youth. It connects men and women of imagination and enterprise to their peers around the world. It exposes us all to new opportunities, while teaching us new answers to problems of wide concern.
In its respect for diversity, entrepreneurship, and inclusion, it is a model for richer relationships between and within nations.
This is the first time the Summit has come to sub-Saharan Africa. In its choice of Kenya, the GES acknowledges the progress and potential of our nation, and its leadership on the continent. It also acknowledges our entrepreneurial spirit, our robust small and medium enterprises, and our entrepreneur class – which now counts many of our young people, and previously marginalised groups, among members.
Our innovators and entrepreneurs have certainly earned the honour of the summit. We will honour them in our turn if we welcome our guests with our customary hospitality, and if we represent our nation and our continent as well as we are able.
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As Kenyans, we have the opportunity to learn from the experience and expertise of some of the world’s top business development experts and leaders, and to share with them our own achievements and success stories. As entrepreneurs, we will have the chance to meet them in sessions, to pitch our ideas and to grow the scale and impact of our enterprises. Investors will find opportunities for decent returns in some of the world’s most cutting-edge, innovative and responsive solutions to shared challenges.
I am glad to say that Government, and our partners, have devoted great care to these arrangements, and that our work has been rewarded with commitments from 1,400 participants – and a large delegation from the United States, accompanying President Obama.
It is an inspiration to note that of the 1,400 delegates, a fifth will be Kenyans, and half African. In the days before the Summit, we will host a number of events so that our friends and visitors can prepare themselves for the big day.
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Late on the first day of the event, President Obama and I will also hold bilateral talks, the better to strengthen ties between our nations. I scarcely need to mention that our friendship with the United States of America dates back to the days before independence, and that it has remained strong into the present. The United States is now our second most important trading partner. Indeed, our exports to the US hit Ksh30 billion last year.
Our textiles find a ready market in that country; our natural heritage brings many American visitors each year. Of course, there remains scope for better, more diversified, trade and investment in energy, in technology, and in manufacturing.
We look forward to what is to come: to partnerships, to shared prosperity, and to a new era of innovation and possibility that is not to say that we do not have challenges of our own.We have not always made the most of our natural endowments, but with the new trade, new investment, and new technology, we have begun to produce green and renewable energy on a scale unprecedented in our history. I welcome new interest in this area just as warmly as I welcome our cooperation with the United States in our battles against terrorists and strengthening governance institutions.”
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