President Kikwete has First Oval Office Meeting With Obama

 

Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete met with President Obama at the White House making him the first African President to do so.

On May 21, 2009 President Jakaya Kikwete became the first African Head of State to meet with President Obama at the White House.

From the White House:

The President and President Kikwete met this afternoon and had a valuable discussion on a range of issues.  President Obama expressed his appreciation for the close bilateral relationship the United States shares with Tanzania.  President Kikwete and the President exchanged views on approaches to enhancing the U.S.–Tanzanian partnership, improving development policy in the fields of health, education, and agriculture, and working with other partners in the region to solve some of the most pressing conflicts on the African continent.  President Obama and President Kikwete expressed a desire to work together to solve common problems in the future.  This was the first African Head of State to visit President Obama at the White House.

President Obama is expected to make his first trip as President to Africa in July.  He will visit Ghana.  During his visit, President Obama will hold bilateral talks with his Ghanaian counterpart, President John Evans Atta Mills, aimed at strengthening the fraternal relations existing between the two countries,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.