What do the White House, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Tyler Perry movie studios have in common? Kenyan President William Ruto will visit them all as part of his official state visit to the United States, a symbolic event that aims to bring Africa policy to the fore.
Ruto’s trip marks the first state visit from an African leader since 2008, so there will be considerable attention on how it plays out for Kenya, Africa policy more broadly, and the U.S. Before making it to Washington, D.C., Ruto will spend a couple of days in Atlanta meeting with tech, health, and innovation companies, discussing democracy at The Carter Center, visiting Morehouse College, and making creative industry links at Tyler Perry studios.
Once in the nation’s capital there will be much pomp and ceremony, especially at the official White House state dinner, but also plenty of policy, diplomacy, and economic discussion.
About the author
Adva Saldinger@AdvaSal
Adva Saldinger is a Senior Reporter at Devex where she covers development finance, as well as U.S. foreign aid policy. Adva explores the role the private sector and private capital play in development and authors the weekly Devex Invested newsletter bringing the latest news on the role of business and finance in addressing global challenges. A journalist with more than 10 years of experience, she has worked at several newspapers in the U.S. and lived in both Ghana and South Africa.
