President Obama First US President to Speak at the African Union

President Obama Speaks at the African Union
July 28, 2015
Get News Nearby  

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

By: Felicia Darnell

President Barack Obama gave the keynote address at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Tuesday, July 28 at 5:30 a.m. CST. President Obama is the first U.S. president to speak at the African Union.

"This is an historic visit to the African Union. And it will be my great pleasure to welcome President Barack Obama to the AU," said the AU Commission Chairperson on the eve of the visit, adding that "it is also another concrete step to broaden and deepen the relationship between the AU and the US."

Get News Nearby

On Saturday, July 25, President Obama made remarks about Africa's future within the global economic ecosystem at the Global Entrepreneur Summit (GES) in Kenya. He announced that the U.S. has secured more than one billion dollars for entrepreneurs in Africa, coming through on a promise he made at last year's GES summit in Morocco.

"This continent needs to be a future hub of global growth, not just African growth," he said on Saturday to thousands of entrepreneurs and investors.

Dignitaries queue at @_AfricanUnion in #Ethiopia as @POTUS is about to make a historic visit. #ObamainEthiopia pic.twitter.com/1wdiiEzIVK

— Addis fortune (@addis_fortune) July 28, 2015

As he completes his historical trip to East Africa, Obama sets a tone of hope and allyship between the 54 member countries of the AU and the U.S.

"Africa and its people helped to shape America, and allowed it to become the great nation that it is," the president said during the address. "And Africa and its people have shaped who I am and how I see the world."

The African Union was established May 9, 2001 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and launched July 9, 2002 in Durban, South Africa with a mission to build strength and collaborations between African nations. The AU replaced former Organisation of African Unity (OAU), an organization that was established in 1963 with a focus on liberation movements.