STATEMENT BY H.E. PRESIDENT UHURU KENYATTA DURING A NEWS

CONFERENCE AT STATE HOUSE, NAIROBI, 21st JULY 2015

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Africa's riches are old and new. The resilience and diligence of our people areancient, yet we remain full of the energy, ambition and invention of youth.

In recent times, as we liberated ourselves and came to more equal relationswith the rest of the world, our diligence earned greater respect and reward:some of the fastest-growing economies in the world are now to be found on thecontinent, as are some of the most innovative and enterprising firms, whoseorigins span the globe.

They come to us because they see the continent's potential – potential yet tobe fully tapped. New partners join old friends in this turn to Africa. Thisdevelopment should be welcomed. None of us can escape the interdependentworld in which we now live. None of us should want to. In the commerce andinteraction of diverse peoples are born that the ideas and practices that willchange the world.

That is why it is my pleasure to co-host, with President Obama of the UnitedStates of America, the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Nairobi thisweekend. Since its inauguration in the USA five years ago, it has grown into atruly global gathering of entrepreneurs, innovators, Government leaders andyouth.

It connects men and women of imagination and enterprise to their peersaround the world. It exposes us all to new opportunities, while teaching us newanswers to problems of wide concern.

In its respect for diversity, entrepreneurship, and inclusion, it is a model forricher relationships between and within nations.

This is the first time the Summit has come to sub-Saharan Africa. In its choiceof 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 – whichnow counts many of our young people, and previously marginalised groups,among its members.

Kenya’s reputation for innovation and enterprise is fully deserved. It is our habitto take risks in the hope of bettering ourselves, and our country. That is whatled many of our young men and women to go the United States even beforeindependence. That same spirit inspired the young Kenyans who crafted theUshahidi app. It inspired Kennedy Odede, founder of SHOFCO, and winner ofForbes’ top 30 under 30 prize. And it is that very same resolve which drove Dr.Simon Gicharu, founder of Mt Kenya University, and Ernst and Young’sEntrepreneur of the Year 2014.

Our innovators and entrepreneurs have certainly earned the honour of thesummit. We will honour them in our turn if we welcome our guests with ourcustomary hospitality, and if we represent our nation and our continent as wellas we are able.

For this is our event – all of us. As Kenyans, we have the opportunity to learnfrom the experience and expertise of some of the world’s top businessdevelopment experts and leaders, and to share with them our ownachievements and success stories.

As entrepreneurs, we will have the chance to meet them in sessions, to pitchour ideas and to grow the scale and impact of our enterprises. Investors willfind opportunities for decent returns in some of the world’s most cutting-edge,innovative and responsive solutions to shared challenges.

To welcome our guests and friends with the hospitality they deserve, we havehad to plan most carefully.

I am glad to say that Government, and our partners, have devoted great careto these arrangements, and that our work has been rewarded withcommitments from 1,400 participants – and a large delegation from the UnitedStates, accompanying President Obama.

It is an inspiration to note that of the 1400 delegates, a fifth will be Kenyans,and half African. In the days before the Summit, we will host a number ofevents so that our friends and visitors can prepare themselves for the big day.

Late on the first day of the event, President Obama and I will also hold bilateraltalks, the better to strengthen ties between our nations. I scarcely need tomention that our friendship with the United States of America dates back to thedays 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 30 billion shillings last year.

Our textiles find a ready market in that country; our natural heritage bringsmany American visitors each year. Of course, there remains scope for better,more diversified, trade and investment in energy, in technology, and inmanufacturing.

I am sure this diversification will be one of the items on the summit’s agenda.Certainly, we look forward to what is to come: to partnerships, to sharedprosperity, and to a new era of innovation and possibility.

That is not to say that we do not have challenges of our own. There are thoseamong us who still hope to pervert public enterprise for private ends. Myadministration has led the war against them; their corrupt schemes will fail.Our country has endured the attacks of depraved, ideological criminals. Wehave fought them unrelentingly, and they know, as well as we do, that they willlose.

We have not always made the most of our natural endowments, but with thenew trade, new investment, and new technology, we have begun to producegreen and renewable energy on a scale unprecedented in our history. Iwelcome new interest in this area just as warmly as I welcome our cooperationwith the United States in our battles against terrorists and strengtheninggovernance institutions.

For all that, it is in our values that our two countries are most alike: in ourconcern for the freedom of the individual, and our devotion to the cause of

democracy.

It is these aspects of our relationship that will be most refreshed by theSummit, and by the visit of President Obama.

I need not tell you how eagerly we have all waited for the day, or how keen weall are to make it the most memorable of homecomings. All I can say is thatthose who doubted the strength of the friendship between the two countries, orthe depth of our engagement, had better re-examine their assumptions.

All I ask is that you give President Obama a hearty welcome when he visits ourcountry.

I thank you.