President Obama Schedules Trip to Africa - East Idaho News
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President Obama Schedules Trip to Africa

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Getty PresidentObamaVote2012?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1369092916499Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — President Obama will travel to Africa this summer.

The president will take his family to U.S. allies Senegal, Tanzania, and South Africa, where Nelson Mandela lives in retirement.

During the trip, scheduled for June 26 through July 3, the president, “will reinforce the importance that the United States places on our deep and growing ties with countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including through expanding economic growth, investment, and trade, strengthening democratic institutions, and investing in the next generation of African leaders,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said in a statement Monday.

As the first African American president, President Obama has wanted to make an extended tour of the African continent, but he cannot go to his father’s homeland, Kenya, for the lack of political stability there.

Carney said the president, “will meet with a wide array of leaders from government, business, and civil society, including youth, to discuss our strategic partnerships on bilateral and global issues.”

“The trip will underscore the President’s commitment to broadening and deepening cooperation between the United States and the people of sub-Saharan Africa to advance regional and global peace and prosperity,” he said.

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