The White House announced Monday that President Barack Obama will make his first trip to his father’s native Kenya as President this summer.
Obama will travel to Kenya in July for bilateral meetings and the 2015 Global Entrepreneurship Summit, an annual conference that connects entrepreneurs with business leaders, international organizations, and governments, reports CNN.
“His trip will build on the success of the August 2014 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit and continue our efforts to work with countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Kenya, to accelerate economic growth, strengthen democratic institutions, and improve security,” Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement.
This will be the President’s fourth trip to Sub-Saharan Africa. His last trip was in December 2013 for the funeral of Nelson Mandela. He also traveled to Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania during summer 2013 for a series of events on the United States’ commitment to African economic growth, democratic institutions and young leadership development.
Obama famously traced his family’s roots in his 1995 memoir, Dreams From My Father. His father, Barack Obama, Sr., was born and raised in Kenya. He lived in the United States in the 1950s and 60s, and ultimately returned to his home country, where he died in a car accident in 1982.
Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz told reporters additional details about the trip are forthcoming, and he did not yet know whether the President would visit with members of his extended family.
