Watch President Obama Delivers Remarks at the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
In his farewell speech capping a historic trip to Kenya and Ethiopia, U.S. President Barack Obama hailed Africa’s extraordinary progress, while noting that such progress can only be sustained through continued development and democracy for all.
“I stand before you as a proud American. I also stand before you as the son of an African,” Obama said Tuesday. With those words, the first sitting U.S. president to address the African Union encapsulated his personal interest in seeing Africa’s continued economic and developmental growth as it sheds a history of colonialism.
“A half century into this independence era, it is long past time to put aside old stereotypes of an Africa forever mired in poverty and conflict. The world must recognize Africa’s extraordinary progress,” he said.
Obama hailed the continent’s gains, from a plummeting HIV/AIDS infections rate to millions of Africans being lifted out of poverty, while championing the U.S. role in such gains.