US President Barack Obama has praised Africa's economic and business potential in a speech in Nairobi on the first full day of his visit to Kenya. "Africa is on the move... People are being lifted out of poverty, incomes are up (and) the middle class is growing," he told a business summit.  He later visited a memorial for those killed in the 1998 US embassy bombing.

The trip which started on Friday has been described as a "homecoming" by Kenyan media. At the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, the US President told young entrepreneurs and businesspeople that Africa needed to be a "future hub of global growth". He said Kenya had made "incredible progress" since his last visit.

Later, Mr Obama visited the memorial park on the site of the US embassy where 213 people were killed in an al-Qaeda truck bombing in 1998. On his arrival at Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, he was hugged by his half-sister Auma and later, at dinner, the president was joined by more relatives including "Mama Sarah", who helped to raise his late father.

After his visit to Kenya, Mr. Obama will travel on to Ethiopia where he will become the first US leader to address the African Union. 

Source: KUNA