United States of America President Joe Biden welcomes Kenyan President William Ruto at the South Portico of the White House in Washington, U.S., May 22, 2024.he came up with a new schedule for an Africa trip. “I plan to go in February after I am reelected,” he told reporters.
When President Biden addressed dozens of African leaders from Washington at the end of 2022, he declared that the old days of the world’s fastest-growing continent being overlooked by American leaders were gone.
In the year and a half since then, the president has held just one phone call with an African head of state, and this week he is hosting his second Oval Office meeting with a leader from the continent. His promised trip to the continent has not materialized and, with his reelection campaign fully underway, it appears unlikely to happen anytime soon.
We may be divided by distance, but we are united by the same democratic values,” Biden said as he greeted Ruto on the South Lawn of the White House. Biden noted the U.S. and Kenya are celebrating 60 years of diplomatic relations after Kenya's independence.
"My visit takes place at a time when democracy is perceived to be retreating worldwide," Ruto said, standing with Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and other cabinet officials. Earlier, he had met privately with Biden in the Oval Office.
"We agreed on the significant opportunity for the U.S. to radically recalibrate its strategy and strengthen its support for Africa," Ruto said.He called Biden "a strong and committed friend" to Kenya and the rest of the continent.
The White House said Biden would designate Kenya as the first sub-Saharan African country to be a major non-NATO ally. Currently, Qatar, Israel and 16 other countries share that designation.
“That’s a fulfillment of years of collaboration,” Biden said, including fighting terrorism in Africa, stability in Haiti and supporting Ukraine.The Kenyan president arrived in the U.S. on Monday and visited Atlanta, Georgia, then spoke with business executives in the White House on Wednesday. On Thursday evening, he was to be guest of honor at a lavish state dinner.
Successive U.S. governments have said they wanted to offer African countries a more sustainable and democratic alternative to relations with China and Russia, but Washington has failed to establish real ties.
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