Kenyan president calls on U.S. firms to invest more in Africa

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday called on U.S. businesses to invest in Africa which is the second-fastest growing region in the world.

In his video remarks to the Milken Global Conference held in California which he could not attend due to flight hitches, Kenyatta said Africa has considerable opportunities for trade and investment.

"We must remind ourselves that Africa is a place of diverse countries and peoples, which repays considered engagement. Luckily, this conference is a superb opportunity to replace the older, darker view with a more accurate picture," Kenyatta said.

He said young people and cities often drive innovation and growth, noting that Africa will soon have about one billion young Africans of working age and over 100 cities of at least one million people each.

The president said Africa has adopted technology that has eased old challenges, adding that "there are as many as one and a half times as many mobile-phone users in Africa as in the U.S."

With Africa's economic management better and political and economic risk ratings in line with the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Kenyatta said the importance of economic and political stability cannot be under-rated. He said reforms in various countries on the continent have revived African solidarity.

"We have renewed our conviction that if we stand together; we can solve our problems and earn the prosperity and freedom that we deserve," he said.

The president, who has been at the forefront in regional integration, said the continent with support of friends and partners, has the second-best rate of return in the world.

The conference brings together distinguished leaders and entrepreneurs. President Paul Kagame of Rwanda is among key speakers.

Kenyatta said Kenya has made substantial investments in infrastructure: the Mombasa port is being expanded, a new standard- gauge railway running from Mombasa to Uganda is being built, and a new port in Lamu is under construction.

The president said Kenya is keen to form partnerships in information and communications technology, agriculture, energy, financial services and manufacturing. "There is potential for partnerships in energy, especially because Kenya has perhaps half of Africa's potential geothermal power," Kenyatta said. Endi