Andrew Harnick/Getty Images
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden welcomed Kenyan President William Ruto and his wife Rachel Ruto as they arrived for a state dinner at the White House. The visit comes amid intensifying competition with China and Russia in Africa and as the United States seeks to strengthen ties with black voters and boost trade and military ties ahead of the November presidential election.
CNN —
This week's summit between the U.S. and Kenya was about many things: strengthening a burgeoning trade relationship across several sectors, including technology, energy and artificial intelligence. It was also an opportunity to highlight the Kenyan government's new role as Washington's military partner.
Courtesy: Dan Grater
Joyce M. Davis
But, unsurprisingly given it's a presidential election year, the visit also had a lot to do with US politics, which was high on the list.
President William Ruto and his wife, Rachel Ruto, were given the glamour befitting their status on the international stage, with cameras rolling in the United States and footage broadcast around the world. As President Joe Biden seeks to strengthen his connection with black voters in his bid for re-election, it couldn't hurt one bit to have the African leader and his wife visit the White House for an official visit.
The glitzy dinner late Thursday was enhanced by the presence of former President Barack Obama, who remains hugely popular among black voters years after leaving office and whose father is Kenyan.
Africa is important to many black Americans, a continent most will never visit but to which they have ancestral and emotional ties. The image of Biden and Ruto shaking hands and smiling, with their wives at their sides, is sure to resonate with black voters, a constituency Biden desperately needs to turn out in droves to vote in November.
The event included the singing of the national anthem, a formal military salute and a White House news conference — a fitting end to an elegant state dinner for a top global ally. All of this will not only boost Biden's standing with the people of the East African country and across Africa, but also his support among black Americans. Ruto is the sixth head of state to enjoy a state visit with Biden, and the high-profile visit sent a strong signal at home and abroad of just how important Kenya is to the United States.
But there is more at stake for America than a photo op to boost its popularity. America needs Kenya, and Kenya needs America. For one, the U.S.-Kenya alliance is more than 60 years old and has stood the test of time, including the violent 2007 election that left an estimated 1,200 Kenyans dead.
At the time, Ruto was at odds with the US, who supported the investigation into the International Criminal Court's indictment of her on charges of murder, deportation and persecution.
The case against Kenya's future leader, and the allegations against the current president, Uhuru Kenyatta, collapsed after a 13-year investigation. The two, then political rivals, resolved their differences and Ruto ran as Kenyatta's running mate in the 2013 presidential election.
Kenyans elected Ruto as their President in 2022. Amidst the turmoil and instability in many parts of the African continent, Kenya has been an oasis of relative calm and stability. Indeed, Ruto has aptly described Kenya as an “anchor” of East and Central Africa.
Kenya is currently one of America's strongest and most reliable allies on the African continent, and with China and Russia both eyeing the continent's vital minerals and other natural resources, America needs a stable African ally.
Both countries are deepening their ties to Africa, with China funding large-scale infrastructure projects across the continent and Russia making new inroads by exploiting growing anti-Western sentiment in parts of the continent and profiting from the sale of arms and natural resources.
Against this backdrop, Ruto's official visit is a welcome event for both Nairobi and Washington. But to give US-Africa relations a much-needed boost, Biden should have visited the continent as he promised long ago, and delivered on his promise to prioritize relations with Africa much sooner than in the final year of his presidency.
That would have gone a long way to slowing the political and economic progress of America's adversaries. It's one thing to send First Lady Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to fly flags for America, who visited Africa last year. But it's quite another thing for the US president to set foot on African soil himself.
A strong relationship with Kenya serves U.S. business and security interests. Not only does Kenya have a young, educated population with disposable income to buy U.S. products, it also has leaders who want to be active on the world stage. President Ruto has agreed to send Kenyan troops to Haiti to deal with the chaos that gangs have wreaked on the country's close proximity to the U.S. In doing so, President Ruto is bringing in badly needed international funds to shore up the Kenyan economy and fill his government's coffers with hard currency.
Ruto's visit to the US will have another positive impact. It will strengthen economic ties with the US, benefiting both US and Kenyan companies. Let us not forget that Kenya has a place called “Silicon Savannah” with highly trained engineers and tech-savvy workforce. Over 90% of Kenya's energy comes from renewable sources and the US is Kenya's largest export market.
This does not mean that Kenya will cut off political and economic ties with Russia and China. It makes sense for Kenya to maintain friendly relations with both countries, but American companies need not fear economic competition from them. The United States has much more to offer.
Ruto's entourage met with executives from Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines, which is reportedly interested in taking a stake in Kenya's flagship carrier, Kenya Airways, and more economic news is likely to be announced in the days and weeks following the official visit.
Indeed, the meeting in Washington this week will benefit both Biden and Ruto. Ruto leaves the US with new status as a “major non-NATO ally,” strengthening his administration and giving his country valuable protections, and with the assurance that the crucial African Growth and Opportunity Act, which gives African countries tax-free status in the US, will be extended.
Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter
Unfortunately, perhaps the most pressing concern in Ruto's mind is what the United States cannot offer: an antidote to the devastating effects of climate change on the African continent.
In the past few weeks alone, Kenya has seen its worst floods in more than a decade, killing more than 250 people, and there are signs that the situation could get worse. Biden may want to stop the rains and reverse global warming, but he doesn't have the power to do that to any president. But he can help make America more visible on African issues.
Ruto's visit was an opportunity for Biden to personally and publicly reconnect with Africa and vow to rebuild ties with African-American voters and do better. Biden has pledged to visit the continent and has said he will do so next year, a chance he could get if U.S. voters, particularly black Americans, re-elect him as president.
