Uhuru Kenyatta meets Donald Trump at the White House

President Uhuru Kenyatta met American counterpart Donald Trump at the White House in Washington D.C. on Monday.

First Ladies Margaret Kenyatta and Melania Trump also held their own private meeting inside the Diplomatic Reception Room in the West Wing.

“Today, President Donald Trump and First Lady of the United States welcome the President of the Republic of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta and Mrs. Margaret Kenyatta to the White House,” a tweet from the White House reads.

Earlier, President Uhuru Kenyatta witnessed the signing of two agreements that will see two US companies invest $238million worth of projects in Kenya as he urged the US government to facilitate the operations of US businesses Africa.

Taking cue from President Kenyatta’s call, the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and Kipeto Wind Energy Company signed documents to close a $232 million deal in financing for the construction and operation of a 100-megawatt grid-connected wind power plant south of Nairobi.

President Uhuru Kenyatta and First Lady Margaret Kenyatta arrive at the White House and are welcomed by US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump #UhuruInAmerica #MondaySpecial pic.twitter.com/5Fi6hNMzMT

— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) August 27, 2018

The plant will provide a more reliable source of energy to the national grid and support the US Power Africa Initiative to double the number of people in Sub-Saharan Africa with access to electric power.

The second agreement signed in the presence of President Kenyatta when he met business executives of leading US companies meeting under the umbrella of the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU), was a $ 5 million letter of commitment in financing to expand the distribution network of Twiga Foods and improve food security and agricultural wages in Kenya.

A very busy morning today for @UKenyatta as he engages with senior US captains of industry courtesy of @SecretaryRoss and the @BCIU The President is making a strong pitch to American companies for them to come (back) to Kenya as partners in our development agenda. pic.twitter.com/eYBqBKAfE0

— Nzioka Waita (@NziokaWaita) August 27, 2018

The agreement was signed between Twiga Foods and OPIC, a US government agency. Dr. Kenneth Namunje and Mr. Grant Brooke signed for Kipeto Energy and Twiga Foods respectively while Hon. Ray Washburne, the President and Chief Executive of OPIC signed on behalf of his organization.

Addressing the US business executives, President Kenyatta assured them of his administration’s commitment to remove any hurdle that could impede their operations in Kenya.

“Kenya is open for business and all we want to do is package our partnership in a way that it is mutually beneficial to you as a private sector and the people of Kenya,” President Kenyatta said.

President Kenyatta invited more US investors to set shop in Kenya to benefit from the opportunities created by the Big Four development blueprint projects.

He said the Big Four agenda projects – pegged on boosting manufacturing to create jobs, food security, provision of affordable housing and universal healthcare coverage – present major opportunities for local and foreign investors.

The BCIU is a US-based organization comprising of 200 member companies. It helps its members to engage internationally by facilitating mutually beneficial relationships between business and government leaders worldwide.

Cabinet Secretaries Monica Juma (Foreign Affairs) and Henry Rotich (National Treasury) were among the Kenyan delegation at the business meeting.