President Trump hosts Kenya’s president Kenyatta at the White House
BY JIBRIL TURE
President Donald Trump today hosted the president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, as his second African guest at the White House. The two leaders discussed bilateral relations, focusing on trade, security, and bolstering tourism. Trump’s meeting with the leader of the African economic powerhouse that is Kenya, a country that has given the United States one of its best presidents in a century, is a historical development in U.S.-Africa relations.
Viewed through the prism of the respectable institution that is the American presidency, Today’s meeting between President Trump and President Kenyatta is very important, although Trump is embroiled in multiple sexual scandals and is haunted by the mounting evidence of his collusion with U.S. staunch enemy, Russia, to steal the 2016 presidential election from Hillary Clinton. The importance of the meeting between the two leaders is underscored by Kenya being the economic engine of the East African region (with its economy worth $63.40 billion according to 2015 census), and a major U.S. ally in the fight against terrorism. That is not to say that Kenya has given the United States a president who has served two brilliant terms against the odds, and was voted in a recent survey of American citizens as the best U.S. president of the past 85 years.
In the traditional joint newsconference following their meeting, President Donald Trump stated:
“We do a lot of tourism; we do a lot of trade and defense. And we are working very hard to improve security right now. We appreciate very much your being with us here.”
His Kenyan counterpart stated:
“We have had very strong and excellent cooperation with the U.S. in security and defense, especially in the fight against terrorism. Most importantly, we are here looking to enhance our partnership in trade and investment.”
Before meeting with his American counterpart, President Kenyatta witnessed the signing of two major investment deals worth $238 for projects in Kenya: The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and the Kipeto Wind Energy committed themselves to financing the construction and operation of a 100-megawatt grid-connected wind power plant south of Nairobi to the tune of $232 million. The second deal has to do with a $5 million letter of commitment to expand the distribution network of Twiga Foods and improve food security and agricultural wages in Kenya. An elated President Kenyatta stated on the occasion:
“Kenya is open for business and all we want to do is package our partnership in a way that it is mutually beneficial to you as a private sector and the people of Kenya.”
He then urged more U.S. investors to get involved in his country to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the so-called Big Four development blueprint projects.
It’s too soon to know what derogatory statements Trump may have made in private about Kenyatta after their meeting in public. The loose-tongue American president’s uncalled-for comments allegedly describing Nigeria’s 75-year-old and ailing president, Muhammadu Buhari, as “lifeless” after their meeting last April at the White House, was not publicly known until a commentary published today by the Financial Times.
While Africa remains at the bottom of Trump’s foreign policy priorities, his meeting with the Kenyan leader, only four months after hosting the president of Africa’s most populous country and the continent’s largest economy, Nigeria, is a positive development in U.S.-Africa relations.
