president kenyatta: goodafternoon, ladies and gentlemen. let me begin by saying thatwe have had an excellent afternoon where we've hadvery frank and, indeed, very fruitful discussions withpresident obama on a variety of issues of mutual interestboth to kenya and the united states. this follows the signing ofagreements covering areas of mutual interest such assecurity, visa reciprocity, and the development andcooperation amongst
other things. our discussions affirmedthat kenya and the united states share deep valuesin many areas of critical interest. and naturally, therefore,our peoples and governments speak the same languageon many issues. kenya is an open, democraticsociety, underpinned by an embrace of democracy. we are deepening thatdemocracy while fighting
global terrorists who seekto destroy our way of life. left undefeated, they willredraw the international system and make room forviolent extremism and tyranny. we agreed together that wecan build a future in which our people of all faiths,cultures live peacefully together, with the rights ofindividuals and minorities protected, and those inpower held to account by strong and inclusiveinstitutions. i also expressed topresident obama that without
building shared prosperity,our vision of a secure africa and, indeed, a stableworld will remain a fragile dream. it is for this reason thatkenya, an increasingly dynamic country, iscontinuously opening new trade and investmentfrontiers across the world. i conveyed the hope thatduring his tenure in office, the united states wouldlook to develop a strong strategic partnership withafrica built on shared
values and interests. i expressed the hope thathis visit would allow him and the people of the unitedstates to gain an even deeper insight onafrica's challenges. and this will enable them tosee these challenges as an expression of greatopportunities that are available here. the united states is acountry of entrepreneurs with the unique capacityto build transformative
businesses, and i hope thatthese entrepreneurs and investors will recognizeand act on the immense opportunities kenyaand africa present. and in this regard, i alsoexpressed my appreciation of his leadership inshepherding the renewal of agoa. beyond shared values, we arebrothers and sisters, fellow travelers in the strugglefor a better world for all. and we therefore need toupscale our partnerships in
agriculture, infrastructureand affordable energy. i also expressed my owncommitment to ensuring that on our part we will continueto take the steps that provide the properconditions for a vibrant ecosystem for investorsand entrepreneurs. we agreed to continue toengage one another so that we can strengthen whatis already a robust relationship. and indeed, i look forwardto hosting president obama
later this evening and,indeed, also seeing him at the sidelines of the unitednations general assembly in september. president obama, once again,on my own behalf, on behalf of my government and thepeople of kenya, let me thank you for your supportas evidenced by the various agreements signed betweenour two governments and, indeed, your willingness toengage kenya in the true spirit of partnership.
it's now my pleasure tointroduce the president to make some briefremarks as well. thank you. (applause) president obama: habari. president kenyatta, let mejust reiterate what i said at the summit earlier: toyou and the people of kenya, thank you for theextraordinary welcome that you've given me, and for thesame kindness that you've
shown to me since my firstvisit to kenya nearly 30 years ago. i'm proud to returnas the first u.s. president to ever visitkenya while still in office. i need to give a specialacknowledgement to everybody in alego andkogelo and kisumu. i'm well aware, however,that the enthusiasm that we're seeing today from myvisit is a reflection of something bigger -- andthat's the desire among the
kenyan people for a deeperpartnership with america. and that's why i'm here. my work with presidentkenyatta today has been rooted in our sharedrecognition that the interests of both ournations, and the lives of both our peoples, can beadvanced if our countries deepen and expandour cooperation. and that's what we'veagreed to today. first, i want to salute thekenyan people for their
hard-won progress instrengthening their democracy. millions voted for the newconstitution, one of the most progressive in africa,with its strong protections for freedom of expression,assembly and the press, and its emphasis on equalityand against discrimination. the election two years agowas competitive and largely peaceful. kenya has a determined,active, feisty press -- as we see here today.
and as i've said elsewhere,a free press helps make a nation stronger and moresuccessful, and it makes us leaders more effectivebecause it demands greater accountability. kenya has a vibrant civilsociety, which is essential for any democracy, and ilook forward to meeting tomorrow withrepresentatives from civil society who stand up for thedignity and rights of all kenyans.
dignity begins, of course,with the ability to provide a decent lifefor our families. and today, presidentkenyatta and i agreed to expand the economicpartnerships between our peoples that can providebroad-based prosperity. we will extend student andbusiness visas for up to five years for kenyanstraveling to the united states and for americanstraveling to kenya. this will make it easierfor university students to
complete their studies andfor businesses to make long-term plans. our governments are alsoworking to launch direct flights between kenya andthe united states as soon as possible. as part of our young africanleaders initiative, we'll also continue to supportpromising kenyan youth as they work to become futureleaders in business, civil society and government.
now that we've renewedthe african growth and opportunity act, or agoa,for another 10 years, i discussed with presidentkenyatta how we can expand our economic cooperation. and we're especially focusedon infrastructure and energy -- two keys toeconomic growth. our power africa initiativeis supporting kenya's goal of achieving its nationalenergy needs -- electricity for kenyans -- by 2030.
and this includesinnovations that bring power to rural kenyans who are offthe grid, as i saw earlier today at the globalentrepreneurship summit. i also want to commendkenya, a leader in clean energy, for announcing itspost-2020 target to limit carbon emissions as part ofour fight against climate change. together, we are confrontinginsidious threats to kenya's prosperity.
president kenyatta, i wantto commend you on your announced commitment torooting out corruption. with the joint commitmentwe've agreed to today, the united states will offeradvice and technical assistance to support kenyaas it takes additional steps to increase transparencyand accountability, and to strengthen institutionsthat fight corruption. so we're making importantcommitments, and now we need to work togetherto fulfill them.
because if kenya can putin place the habits and institutions of goodgovernance, it can help unleash even greatergrowth and investment and prosperity forthe kenyan people. and that will begood for everybody. our countries are alsoclose partners in the fight against poachers andtraffickers that threaten kenya's world-famouswildlife. the united states has a banalready on the commercial
import of elephant ivory. i can announce that we'reproposing a new rule that bans the sale of virtuallyall ivory across our state lines, which will eliminatethe market for illegal ivory in the united states. on security, the unitedstates and kenya are already strong partners, and todaywe reaffirm that we stand united in theface of terrorism. earlier, i had theopportunity to meet with
survivors and families ofvictims of the bombing of our u.s. embassy in 1998. in the face of despicableviolence, such as the attack on garissa universitycollege and the westgate mall, the kenyan people haveshown incredible resolve and remarkable resilience. i also want to pay tributeto the sacrifices of kenyan forces who serve in theafrican union-led mission against al-shabaab insomalia, and to thank kenya
for hosting so many somalirefugees, who are also victims of al-shabaab. today, we discusseddeepening our security cooperation. as part of our securitygovernance initiative, our governments signed an actionplan yesterday in which we'll support kenya's effortto strengthen its judiciary, police and border security. we also discussed broaderefforts to counter violent
extremism, here in kenya andaround the world -- efforts that are advanced when thereis rule of law, respect for human rights, a space forcivil society and peaceful dissent, and when we welcomeall communities as our partners. all our nations are goingto have to work together in order for us tobe successful. we also had the opportunityto discuss regional security issues, and we focused inparticular on the terrible conflict in south sudan,which has taken so many
lives, that cause unbearablesuffering for the south sudanese people. the situation is dire. and we agree that the bestway to stop the fighting is for south sudanese leadersto put their country first with a peace agreementthat ends the fighting. we also discussed burundi,where the recent elections were not credible. and we're calling onthe government and the
opposition to come togetherin a dialogue that leads to a political solution to thecrisis and avoids the loss of more innocent life. and finally, we're going tokeep investing in the health and well-beingof our people. our feed the futureinitiative is focused on reducing hunger,malnutrition and poverty. we're working together toensure that girls have access to education and thatwomen are protected
from violence. today, i can announce thatkenya will be part of our dreams initiative to helpkeep adolescent girls safe and aids-free. and across africa, kenya andthe united states will keep working to strengthen publichealth systems and deal with outbreaks and diseasesbefore they become epidemics. together, we can save lives. so, president kenyatta,thank you for the progress
and new commitmentsthat we made today. i know that kenya facespersistent challenges, as does the united states. but i will tell you thatevery time i come here, i'm struck by the dynamismand the hopefulness, the determination and the talentof the kenyan people. and i look forward to theopportunity to speak to the people of kenya tomorrowabout the future that we can build together.
asante sana. do you want me to start? okay. mr. jeff mason. audience member:thank you very much. mr. president, i'd liketo ask about two topics. first of all, what morespecifically can the u.s. do to help kenya in thefight against al-shabaab? do you still see somalia asa counterterrorism model?
and are you concerned aboutkenyan authorities using counterterrorism as anexcuse to commit human rights violations? secondly, can you comment onthe state of gay and lesbian -- the treatment of gay andlesbians in kenya, which rights groups have calleddismal, and president kenyatta hascalled a non-issue? for you, sir, presidentkenyatta, on the same themes -- what more do you needfrom the united states to
help fight al-shabaab,and are you getting it? and can you please alsorespond to criticism about the state of gayrights in your country? president obama: well, thiswas an extensive topic of conversation and concreteaction that we're now taking. there has been extensive andeffective counterterrorism cooperation between theunited states and kenya dealing with primarilythreats from al-shabaab. in part because of theactions that we've taken not
just with kenya, but withafricom, and the efforts, collectively, of countriesto work together -- uganda, ethiopia, others -- we havesystematically reduced the territory thatal-shabaab controls. we have been able todecrease their effective control within somalia, andhave weakened those networks operating herein east africa. that doesn't mean theproblem is solved. as is true around the world,what we find is, is that we
can degrade significantlythe capacities of these terrorist organizations, butthey can still do damage. the number of individualsinvolved in garissa or westgate mall were notlarge, but when they're willing to target softtargets and civilians, and are prepared to die, theycan still do a lot of damage. and so what we discussed wasthe importance of, number one, continuing the effortto root out al-shabaab's capacity inside ofsomalia, working jointly.
and as we speak, kenya isworking with ethiopia and with the united states andothers to further degrade al-shabaab's space ofoperations inside of somalia. so we have to keep thatpressure going, even as we're strengthening thesomalian government. because part of the reasonthat al-shabaab was able to emerge as a significantthreat to the region was a non-functioning government,effectively a failed state in somalia for so long.
there is now a governmentand a cabinet that is credible and is working withthe international community in mogadishu. and even as we put militarypressure on al-shabaab, we also have to make surethat we're standing up an effective governancestructure inside of somalia. and we've madeprogress there. in addition, we have tocontinue to make progress in intelligence-sharing andbeing able to identify and
prevent threats before theyoccur here in kenya and elsewhere in the region. and part of our announcementtoday involves additional funding, additionalassistance that we're providing the kenyansecurity forces to deal with these very specificcounterterrorism threats, as well as additional trainingand assistance to make sure that the approach that'staken in rooting out potential terrorist threatsdon't create more problems
than they're solving. and this goes to the otherelement of the question that you asked. what we have found,sometimes through hard experience -- and i sharedthis with president kenyatta -- is that if you paint anyparticular community with too broad a brush, if inreaction to terrorism you are restricting legitimateorganizations, reducing the scope of peacefulorganization, then that can
have the inadvertent effectof actually increasing the pool of recruits forterrorism and resentment in communities thatfeel marginalized. and i shared with him thatone of the strengths in the united states, part of thereason why, although we're seeing potential lone wolfattacks inside the united states, that we have notseen this sort of systematic networks and cellsdeveloping in many of our muslim communities orimmigrant communities inside
of the united states is,is that we've been very conscious to make sure thatlaw enforcement is reaching out and cooperating andworking with them, because they are our partnersin this process. and the only way we're goingto fight the poison that's being fed to their youngpeople through social media is to make sure that they'reour eyes and our ears, and they're counseling us onhow we can more effectively build trust andincrease cooperation.
and that's provensuccessful. the same will betrue here in kenya. i was very clear topresident kenyatta -- ultimately, the kenyangovernment is accountable to the kenyan people, and itwill find its way through this process in cooperationwith us, but our experience and best practices tell usthat rule of law, respecting civil society -- in fact,embracing civil society, particularly in thosecommunities that may be
targeted for recruitmentby organizations like al-shabaab -- that becomesmore important the more significant the threat is. and not only is thatpractical advice, but it's the right thing to do, andit's consistent with the kenyan constitution and withthe values that you heard president kenyatta espouse. similarly, with respectto the rights of gays and lesbians, i've beenconsistent all across africa
on this. i believe in the principleof treating people equally under the law, and thatthey are deserving of equal protection under the law andthat the state should not discriminate against peoplebased on their sexual orientation. and i say that, recognizingthat there may be people who have different religiousor cultural beliefs. but the issue is how doesthe state operate relative
to people. if you look at the historyof countries around the world, when you starttreating people differently -- not because of any harmthey're doing anybody, but because they're different-- that's the path whereby freedoms begin to erodeand bad things happen. and when a government getsin the habit of treating people differently,those habits can spread. and as an african-americanin the united states, i am
painfully aware of thehistory of what happens when people are treateddifferently, under the law, and there were all sorts ofrationalizations that were provided by the powerstructure for decades in the united states forsegregation and jim crow and slavery, andthey were wrong. so i'm unequivocal on this. if somebody is a law-abidingcitizen who is going about their business, and workingin a job, an obeying the
traffic signs - (laughter) -- and doing all the otherthings that good citizens are supposed to do, and notharming anybody -- the idea that they are going to betreated differently or abused because of whothey love is wrong. full stop. and the state does not needto weigh in on religious doctrine.
the state just has tosay we're going to treat everybody equallyunder the law. and then everybody else canhave their own opinions. all right? audience member: presidentkenyatta, could you address the questionsas well, please? president kenyatta: yes,we'll address them. first and foremost, icouldn't agree more on what president obama has justsaid, especially with regard
to the issue of thefight against terrorism. the support and thepartnership that we have with the united states froman intelligence point of view, from acounterterrorism point of view, but more importantly,as he's also just mentioned, working with societies onhow to prevent especially extremists from findingbetter fodder for them to be able to develop and togrow and to nurture the terrorists of tomorrow.
you also heard him say --and, indeed, we're truly grateful -- his expansionunder the agreements that we've signed of thecooperation and the assistance that we'regetting from the united states. so as a country, as agovernment, we are satisfied with what we're doing. we need to expand that more. because the battle thatwe're fighting is not a kenyan war.
kenya just happens to bethe frontier of it, being a neighbor to a country thatfor a long time has not had any kind of formalgovernment. we need to work much closertogether to see how we can stabilize somalia. help the somali government,which is in place, work together with its regionalgovernments in order to continuously decrease thearea and the space that al-shabaab and the like haveto operate and to train and
to expert terror not justto kenya, but also to other parts of the world. so i'm looking forward todeepening the partnership that we already have. but we are satisfied withthe kind of cooperation that we've had and the closeworking relationship between our various institutions. you raised the issueof human rights, and i mentioned earlier that thekind of fight we're having
right now, this is anexistential fight for us; this is something that wehave not been familiar with. kenya has always been acountry that has respected different religions. this issue ofterrorism is new to us. and as it is new, we learnwith each and every step. we are improving ourcapacities and our methods of dealing with terrorism. we, as a country, arewilling to learn.
we have undertakenfundamental reforms in our police services to help usto deal with this particular problem. we are continuing to partnerwith friends, like the united states, who aregiving their own experiences as to how they have handledthis particular problem, and we are keen to learnand to participate. and i am certain that aswe move forward, as we get better, as we learn fromothers, we will be able to
handle the situation in amanner that does not, as president obama said,encourage this kind of activity going forwardon the basis of either marginalization or peoplefeeling that particular communities arebeing targeted. as a country, we have donea lot, especially under our new constitution, ournew devolved system of government that is aimedat providing and ensuring equity and developmentacross the country.
we have put a lot ofresources into some of the previously neglected areas. in fact, today, as wesit, a huge portion -- approximately 40 percent ofour national budget is being invested in those areas inan attempt to ensure that all communities in ourcountry feel that the government is for them alland that they are part and parcel of thesocial-economic development of our country.
so we will continueto improve. we will continue to learn. we will continue toparticipate with all communities, with civilsociety, to strengthen our partnership in order toultimately be able to defeat this enemy. with regard to the secondquestion, just like president obama, i thinkwe also need to be able to speak frankly aboutsome of these things.
and the fact of the matteris that kenya and the united states, we share so manyvalues -- our common love for democracy,entrepreneurship, value for families. these are thingsthat we share. but there are some thingsthat we must admit we don't share -- our culture, oursocieties don't accept. it is very difficult forus to be able to impose on people that which theythemselves do not accept.
this is why i repeatedly saythat, for kenyans today, the issue of gay rights isreally a non-issue. we want to focus on otherareas that are day-to-day living for our people: thehealth issues that we have discussed withpresident obama. these are critical. issues of ensuringinclusivity of women, a huge section of society that isnormally left out of the mainstream ofeconomic development.
what we can do in terms ofinfrastructure; what we can do in terms of education; interms of our roads; in terms of giving our peoplepower, encouraging entrepreneurship. these are the key focuses. maybe once, like you haveovercome some of these challenges, we can beginto look at new ones. but as of now, the factremains that this issue is not really an issue thatis on the foremost mind of
kenyans, andthat is the fact. i have two questions forpresident obama and a question for presidentuhuru kenyatta. my first question topresident obama is: there has been a perceptionthat kenya and the u.s. had a strained relationshipright from the time that we had a new government. and in fact, we had severalwestern countries saying that, indeed, choiceshad consequences.
is you coming to kenya sortof pressing a reset button to tell us that, indeed,you are ready to renew your relationship with thiscountry that you've had a long-running relationshipwith for quite some years? and my second questionis about the funding. indeed, you have told usabout several agreements that have been signed. does it concern yourgovernment that, indeed, there is corruption that has-- it's an issue that has
been taken head on byour very president? and in fact, some of hiscabinet secretaries and peers and top governmentofficials are currently in court because of that. you're spending money in acountry that the president himself is concerned aboutthe level of corruption? and to president uhurukenyatta: there has also been a perception aboutkenya looking increasingly east, especially after thegeneral election in 2013,
other things that were said. so is this also sort of anannouncement that, indeed, our traditionalpartners are -- the u.s. -- we affirm the commitmentto renewing our agreements that we had in place and,indeed, we are going forward and working together? president obama: well, firstof all, we don't need a reset because the u.s.-kenyarelationship and cooperation continued robustlythroughout my presidency.
the fact that i didn't gethere may have gotten people riled up. but, frankly, given myfamiliarity and knowledge with kenya, the fact thatthere were many countries across this vast continentthat i had never visited, it was always my intention toget to kenya, but i wanted to make sure that peopledidn't think i was playing favorites so quick - -- immediatelyafter i was elected.
now, to be honest -- and ithink president kenyatta would acknowledge this aswell -- there were deep concerns and tensionsarising out of the violence that took place inan earlier election. we haven't made anysecret about that. accounting is being doneof what happened there. and we continue to believethat norms have to be observed and all countries,big and small -- not just african countries, but allcountries -- should be held
to high standards interms of making sure that elections, democraticprocesses, don't lead to violence. the subsequent electionthat showed growth in the election process, the newconstitution that reflects one of the most progressivearticulations of the principles of freedomand human dignity on the continent -- that signals,i think, a very positive direction in wherekenya is moving.
president kenyatta, duringour meeting, acknowledged that there's stillmore work to be done. and our goal in dealing withall our partners is to be respectful, to recognizethat ultimately sovereign countries have to make theirown determinations about their destiny, but to bevery clear about the values we care about. and we can engage andcooperate and work together, and occasionally disagree --and that's not a rupture to
the relationship; that'sjust the nature of friends. there are going to be timeswhere we have disagreements. you just heardone before this. and that is part of thedialogue and the process that takes placebetween friends. with respect to corruption,i think it is absolutely the right thing to do forpresident kenyatta to emphasize this. and as i stated to himduring our meeting, this may
be the biggest impediment tokenya growing even faster and more people havingeven more opportunity. the fact that doing businessand ordinary people just moving along in their liveshere is constantly sapped by corruption at a highlevel and at a low level. international businesses areconcerned if the price of investing in kenya is 5percent or 10 percent going to someplace that doesn'thave to do with the project. it's just a math issue.
if they've got a plan for abusiness, it's got a certain profit, and if suddenly someof that is taken off the top due to corruption thatmakes that investment less attractive. and that's the judgmentsthat they make. and then at a moregrassroots level, if you've got some smallbusinessperson trying to open up a store and theyfind that they have to pay bribes here, there,everywhere, just to get a
business started, that'sinhibiting the kind of entrepreneurship that wehighlighted earlier this morning. and i think presidentkenyatta is serious about going after this. as i indicated to him, ifyou look at the history of this -- because the unitedstates had, in the past, all kinds of corruption, datingback to the founding of the country.
my hometown of chicago wasfamous for al capone and bootleggers and briberyand police on the take. but what we were able toshow is that over time, when people of integrity at thehighest levels say this is a priority, we're going tostop this, and are willing to hold people at thehighest levels accountable and not just the small-timecorruption, that begins to change the culture. and it is important, ithink, for the people of
kenya to say this is notthe normal way of doing business, and to say noto it at every level. and that will requiresome change in habits. i mentioned sometimes civilservants, they don't feel like their salaries are highenough and they think that, ah, it's just the way ofdoing business; i supplement my salary by imposing my ownpersonal little tax to boost my salary. and then that suddenlybecomes commonplace in a
department or a bureaucracy. and you have toreverse that. and that may mean makingsure that police officers or civil servants are paidproperly and that they have sufficient benefits thatthey don't feel obliged to do that. but some of it is also justbreaking these habits and saying no. and that comes from the top.
and so i very much applaudpresident kenyatta for initiating this campaign. it's going to require thesupport of the kenyan people, and it's goingto require some visible prosecutions. because i mentioned to him-- people aren't stupid. if they see an electedofficial and they know that their salary is there, andsuddenly they're driving through town in a very bigcar, and they see their
cousin driving through townwith a very big car, and they're suddenly buildinga new house, and all that doesn't seem to match upwith their salary, they don't have to be a forensicaccountant to know what's going on. and so when that happens,people have to be held into account. and the ideal that thepresident is putting forward is the right one.
and now it's upto execution. and that won't be just thepresident's job alone; it will be the job ofleadership both locally as well as nationally. president kenyatta: i thinkmine was with regard to looking east. and the first thing i wantto say is that i couldn't agree more. we're not talking about arenewal; we're talking about
a deepening. the united states, from thetime of our independence, has been a very strongpartner and ally. kenya has benefitted fromagoa, benefitted heavily in our health sector, ineducation all these years. and that has never stopped. it's been continuousand ongoing. the key point is what i saidwhen we were opening the summit this morning, andthe fact is that kenya is a
country that's notlooking east or west. what we're looking to dois to make progress; is to develop our country; is tobring prosperity; is to build infrastructure. and we are looking topartner with our friends, old and new, to help usachieve the kenyan dream -- to help us achieve oursocial-economic agenda. and the u.s. happens to be a very strongpartner of kenya in that
objective -- as are manyother countries in the world. so i see no conflict,no contradiction. actually, i just seedeepening of partnerships that already existed, allwith the objective of improving business forkenyans, for the u.s., improving the social life ofkenyans, and deepening our people-to-peoplepartnership, as well, through tradeand investment. so there is nocontradiction whatsoever.
we are just strengtheningalready good relations that exist between ourtwo countries. president obama:juliet eilperin. audience member: thanks. president obama, whileyou've launched multiple policy initiatives onafrica, it is unclear whether any of them willoutlast your presidency. what do you think needs tohappen to ensure you have an africa policy legacy asenduring as those of
presidents bush and clinton? and to what extent doyou think you've met the expectations people here hadof you as a son of africa? and speaking of your africanroots, what did you talk about at dinner last nightwith roughly three dozen of your relatives? and had you metall of them before? and then i have a questionfor president kenyatta, as well. president kenyatta, couldyou spell out in concrete
terms what's different inkenya today because of president obama's election,how his connection to kenya has shaped your discussionstoday, and what aspects of his africa policy do youthink will endure after he's left office? president obama: let me,first of all, underscore that i am really proud ofthe work that previous administrations did herein africa, and i've done everything i could tobuild on those successes.
this isn't a beauty contestbetween presidents; this is the u.s. government and whatever thepolicies that need to be put in place in order for us tohelp our partner countries. i've said before, and i'llrepeat -- i think president george w. bush's pepfar initiative was as significant an achievement internationallyas anything that we've done over the lastseveral decades. it saved millions of lives-- which is why i've
increased fundingsubstantially for pepfar during the course of mypresidency, and continue to build on what was initiallya matter of just getting antivirals and treatment forhiv, and are now building greater capacity withinthose countries that have received pepfar funding sothat they can do even more themselves in terms of theirhealth care infrastructure. so the bottom line is, iwant to build on what's already been done, and thenwe want to fill gaps that
still need to be filled. along those lines, if youlook at our feed the future program, for example, we'vegot millions of farmers across this continent who,as we speak, have benefitted from increased yields,increased incomes, greater access to small loansthat are making them more productive, greater accessto market, linking up with technology in ways thatassure that they get a fair price -- all of which,since africa is still
disproportionately rural,is increasing incomes and spurring growth and buildinga middle class in the entire continent. and we can document theextraordinary progress that's been made there, andit is a model that's working and then has beensupplemented with private sector investments thatis further advancing the development of a moreproductive agricultural sector across theafrican continent.
with respect to powerafrica, which was just launched a couple years ago,we set initially a goal of 10,000 megawatts ofelectricity being generated in sub-saharan africa. we were sufficientlysuccessful in lining up interest and investmentsthat we've now tripled that and set a goal of 30,000. and we're on our way toachieving that goal. we are well on track.
i noted that there wasan article in a u.s. publication suggesting,well, there's no electricity being generatedfrom this yet. the next time somebodyis interested in how electricity gets generated,go back home and find out how long it takes tobuild a power plant. i mean, sometimes these arelong-term projects, but we have billions of dollars oftransactions already locked in, and billionsmore in the pipeline.
and that is just on thetraditional power grid side. that doesn't include allthe innovative, off-grid electrical -- or powergeneration that we witnessed just in those booths thatwe were passing at the entrepreneurship summit,using solar and other -- bio-tech and otherinnovative ways to generate power in rural communitiesthat are not going to be connected to thegrid anytime soon. so that's just two examplesof initiatives that i'm
confident will have alasting effect, not because they were initiated by me,but because they fill an extraordinary need. if we can get sub-saharanafrica to be electrified at the same levels as asia is,that alone is going to drive economic growthexponentially. i mean, the productivitythat is delivered as a consequence of just accessto power -- kids suddenly being able to read and dotheir homework at night;
women relieved of some ofthe burdens of collecting firewood and how they areable to use basic appliances that we take for granted;farmers being able to improve their yields-- it's a game-changer. but we're not going to knowexactly what that looks like 10 years from now. and i suspect that the nextpresident, building off of what we've already set up,will learn what's working really well and what's notworking so well, and make
some tweaks. and i don't havepride of authorship. i hope that they figure outeven better ways for us to continue the things thatwe've started just as we, i think, have refined andimproved the excellent work that was done by presidentsclinton and presidents bush. in terms of what i wastalking about with my family, mostly wewere just catching up. there's more immediatefamily that i had known well
from previous visits. there was some more extendedfamily that i had not met before. my sister, auma, who i'mvery close to and stay in close contact with, i thinkhelped to make sure that everybody was represented. i think the people of kenyawill be familiar with the need to manage familypolitics sometimes. in these extended families,there are cousins and uncles
and aunties that showup that you didn't know existed, but you'realways happy to meet. and there were lengthyexplanations, in some cases, of the connections. but it was a wonderful time. part of the challenge thati've had during the course of my presidency is that,given the demands of the job and the bubble, i can't comehere and just go upcountry and visit for a weekand meet everybody.
that's partly, actually,what i had to explain was -- begging for forgiveness --that once i'm a private citizen, i will have morefreedom to reconnect and to be involved and engaged insome of the work that needs to be done -- because someof these communities are very poor. i'm more restricted,ironically, as president of the united states than iwill be as a private citizen in terms of some of thehands-on and direct help
that i'd like to give --partly just because of schedule, but partly alsobecause of making sure that in my relationship to kenyai am understood to be operating as the presidentof the united states, and that my interaction is withthe government and the non-for-profits and theorganizations that represent all the people of anyparticular country. president kenyatta: there'sone area -- and it's not specifically african,because i think all the
initiatives he's mentionedwe're all happy and proud of -- but the one initiativethat i would really want to focus on is the fact that ithink president obama will strongly be remembered inafrica for his focus on the youth of this continent; thefocus on the young people of this continent to be able toextract their talents, their abilities. and he's been very focusedon this both with the young leaders initiative, with theges that we've just been
attending -- really helpingus unblock the full potential of africa's youthand young men and women. so this, i think, willbe the key legacy that president obama will beremembered for on this continent for along time to come. that's said, judy --or jackie, rather. audience member: presidentobama, and president kenyatta, you spokeabout direct flights. are you working on thatto launch them as soon
as possible? how soon? if soon, can we know that? and, presidentobama, the u.s. has been issuing traveladvisories against kenya. this has had a devastatingeffect on its tourism. it's the secondforeign exchange. and is the u.s. planning to takeit easy on that?
and finally, what are yourpersonal plans for kenya after your presidency? president obama: withrespect to direct flights, there are very specificprotocols and security issues that have to beworked through and sorted out. we sent representativesof our department of transportation and homelandsecurity to work with kenyan officials. i think real progresshas been made.
i don't have a date certainin front of me, and i wouldn't want to make aguess and then if we're late you'll call meand say, you lied. but i think that -- ianticipate that if we can get all the issues squaredaway that this is something that has great potentialand obviously would have a beneficial impact on u.s. travel to kenya -- both forbusiness and for tourism. with respect to the traveladvisories, this is not
something thati meddle with. this is something that ourstate department and our intelligence communitiesmake assessments on. they are provided in partfor our embassy staff and personnel so that they canbe mindful of circumstances. but we are bound to alsothen provide the general public protection -- or thesame information that we provide our teams on theground, for understandable reasons.
i think the general publicwould be disturbed if we were saying one thing tofolks who are working here and another thing to anordinary tourist who was traveling. i recognize the concerns andi do think that despite the seriousness of the terroristthreat posed by al-shabaab, that -- in part because ofmedia attention probably even more than traveladvisories -- that threat can oftentimesbe exaggerated.
and that's unfortunate. and part of my answer iguess to that problem is to come here and visit, andto show this extraordinary country and theextraordinary progress that's been made. but the specifics aroundtravel advisories -- those are a judgment call thatare made by our experts. it's not somethingthat i weigh in on. it's not something thatis subject to political
decision-making. and my solemn goal is tomake sure that we are working urgently withpresident kenyatta and the administration so thatthere's no need for the advisory because we willhave greatly reduced these threats. and there may be ways inwhich we can refine them so that, for example, travelingto game parks may be different than being inother circumstances.
and that's something thatwe can always discuss and explore at a staff level. oh, did i -- there was athird question -- what are my plans? well, here's whati can guarantee. i'll be back. the next time i'm back imay not be wearing a suit. the first time i came here iwas in jeans and a backpack. and one of the challenges oftraveling and visiting kenya
is that i'm much moreconstrained now than i will be. and i think that you cananticipate not only me being back, but probably moreimportant for everybody, michelle being back, andmalia and sasha coming back, because they have a greatlove for this country and its people and its beauty. and obviously i've gotfamily connections. and my hope is that some ofthe philanthropic work that i do after my presidency isover builds on some of the
things that we'vebeen doing now. i'm not going to stop beinginterested in the young people of kenya and theyoung people of africa, and developing the talent andthe leaders -- talented leaders and entrepreneursthat are going to help make this country andthe world prosper. and so you can anticipatethat i'll continue to make those contributionswhere i can. thank you verymuch, everybody.
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