President Barack Obama said his mission to encourage growth in Africa is a personal one while speaking at a business summit in Kenya designed to help supercharge the region's economy.
Obama, whose father was Kenyan and has dozens of relatives in the country, hailed a 'continent on the move' which is lifting its citizens 'out of poverty' in a speech Saturday at a business event.
The President is trying to encourage investors to support African nations like Kenya, and has brought a contingent of more than 200 U.S. investors with him, whom he hopes will make commitments to the region.
He told his audience: 'This is personal for me. There's a reason why my name is Barack Hussein Obama. My father came from these parts.'
Talking up the region's expanding economy, he said: 'Africa is one of the fastest-growing regions of the world. People are being lifted out of poverty... What happens in Africa is going to affect the world.'
Banners and billboards sporting the President's face sprung up around Nairobi ahead of the visit, while thousands of eager fans waved American flags and painted their faces while getting as close as they could to the Presidential motorcade amid intense security.
In Kogelo, the hometown and place of burial of Barack Obama Snr, Obama has two schools named in his honor, dedicated when he was still an Illinois senator.
Kogelo locals named the Senator Obama Kogelo Primary School and Senator Obama Kogelo Secondary School in his honor when he visited in 2006.
The President also visited a memorial at the site of the 1998 bombing of the city's U.S. embassy, which killed more than 200 people.
He laid a wreath and bowed his head in front of the site, looking over the names over the 200 Kenyans and 12 Americans who died in the attack.
Obama arrived in Kenya late Friday and spent the night reuniting with his father's family. Security was tight in the Kenyan capital, with some of the city's normally bustling streets closed to traffic and pedestrians during his visit.
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