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Roundup: US president pledges support for women, young entrepreneurs in Africa

Xinhua, July 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. President Barack Obama has pledged supports for women and young entrepreneurs in Africa who face bigger obstacles when trying to start businesses.

Speaking on Saturday at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Nairobi, Obama hailed Africa's enormous potential.

He revealed that his government and leading corporations will finance the establishment of new training and mentorship centers for African women entrepreneurs. He said that there are 1,600 women entrepreneurs in Africa, and the U.S. government is keen on helping increase this number.

Obama said the U.S. government has opened two women entrepreneurship centres in Kenya and Zambia, with the third one to be opened in Mali later this year, to help step up support for women entrepreneurs.

Obama also pledged 1 billion dollars to support entrepreneurship projects worldwide and a large share of the money will go to women and youth in order to leverage the playing ground for all.

He challenged governments to eliminate regulatory barriers that undermined growth of local enterprises.

"Governments are obliged to facilitate growth of businesses. They should reform the policy and regulatory environment to enhance competitiveness," said Obama.

Kenya became the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to host the U.S. funded annual global entrepreneurship summit attended by delegates from 120 countries.

Patrick Maluki, a Diplomacy Scholar at the University of Nairobi, opined that while Obama's visit will be rich in symbolism, it might not unleash immediate benefits to ordinary Kenyans.

"We should allow realism to prevail since President Obama will not solve our myriad problems instantly," Maluki told Xinhua ahead of the official visit.

He stressed that Obama represents American interests during his brief visit to Kenya and would not allow himself to be dragged into domestic challenges.

Obama visits Kenya, the birthplace of his father for the first time as president from Friday to Sunday.

He is here for the entrepreneurship summit and will talk with his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta on trade, security and human rights. Endit