Africa highlights: Obama in Kenya

President Obama was greeted by President Uhuru Kenyatta when he arrived in Nairobi on Friday evening:

BBCCopyright: BBC

Now that President Obama has arrived roads have reopened in Nairobi - but there are already warnings of road closures on Saturday in the city.

The roads are around the scene of the entrepreneurship summit which Mr Obama will be addressing.

Tomorrow President Obama will speak at an entrepreneurship summit.

So the BBC World Service asked Kenyan entrepreneurs their tips for success.

Eugene Mbugua produces a TV show to teach young Kenyans how to get rich. He told the BBC you don't need to be passionate about what you do:

BBCCopyright: BBC

Suzie Wokabi is the founder of Kenya's only indigenous make-up company. She told the BBC there is only one way your business will work:

BBCCopyright: BBC

While Kenyans were commenting on Twitter about every step that President Obama was taking, President Kenyatta had a simple message:

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto was not in the official line-up to welcome President Obama to the country.

He has just tweeted about what he was doing instead:

As Mr Ruto is on trial at the International Criminal Court for crimes related to the violent aftermath of the 2007 election, there's been speculation about whether President Obama would meet him.

President Kenyatta said he didn't think there would be an issue if the two men met.

There has been speculation about the identity of the first person President Obama met off the plane in Nairobi.

A little girl was pictured giving President Obama flowers.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Nation FM says the girl is an orphan:

PACopyright: PA

There has been some scepticism that President Obama will not be addressing human rights issues on his visit to Kenya and Ethiopia.

Encouraging business and investment will be a priority, but Mr Obama says rights are on the agenda.

"When we combine blunt talk with engagement, that gives us the best opportunity to influence and open up space for civil society," he told the BBC.

Rights activists in Ethiopia - where the opposition failed to win a single seat in the recent election - will be watching what Mr Obama says keenly.

The woman who greeted President Obama at Nairobi airport is his half-sister Auma Obama.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Barack and Auma first met in Chicago when they were both in their twenties, after he invited her, she told CNN.

She was also Michelle's bridesmaid at their wedding.

Growing up in Kenya, Auma set up a foundation to help disadvantaged children.

As President Obama travels with his half sister in an armoured limousine, the BBC's Milton Nkosi looks back at a very different airport pick up.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

The first time President Barack Obama visited Kenya was in 1987 and he wrote about it in his book Dreams From My Father.

Mr Obama said that he felt he belonged in the country as soon as he landed in Nairobi.

His luggage was missing and the cabin crew who assisted him recognised the name and asked if he was related to Dr Barack Obama.

He proudly said he was his son.

APCopyright: AP

"For the first time in my life, I felt the comfort, the firmness of identity that a name might provide, how it could carry an entire history in other people's memories, so that they might nod and say knowingly, 'Oh, you are so and so's son.'

"No one here in Kenya would ask how to spell my name, or mangle it with an unfamiliar tongue. My name belonged and so I belonged."

When President Obama got off the plane in Nairobi, he was greeted by eight-year-old Joan Wamaitha with a big bunch of flowers.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

And he gave a big hug to his half-sister Auma Obama while Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta looked on.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

He then travelled into Nairobi with Auma riding alongside him in his official car.

APCopyright: AP

President Barack Obama arrived in Nairobi about 40 minutes ago, and during Anne Soy's live appearance on Focus on Africa TV cheering could be heard in the background.

She said that was people welcoming the motorcade into the city.

AFPCopyright: AFP

President Barack Obama's will be addressing the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in the morning where trade, investment and African innovation will be the focus.

In talks with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta later on Saturday it's expected that security will be high on the agenda.

The US and Kenya are united in the fight against al-Shabab militants.

Man gets off a plane, signing a book and getting into a car. 

But when that man is President Obama and he is getting off the plane in Nairobi, the Twittersphere is noticing every tiny little detail.

From which hand he writes with...

... to what he is wearing on his wrist...

And once he got in his armoured vehicle, and people couldn't see him anymore. The speculation began:

Tweeters are documenting every one of President Obama's steps into Nairobi

As he signed what looks like a guest book, one tweeter notes:

Once he does get into his car, another tweeter notes the detailing on the US President's armoured limousine:

After the greetings, President Obama sat down at a table on the tarmac to sign an official visitors' book.

And he is now in his official car, nicknamed "The Beast".

Riding along with him is his half-sister Auma Obama.

BBCCopyright: BBC

People are welcoming President Obama to Kenya using the hashtag #ObamaReturns.

BBCCopyright: BBC

President Obama has been greeted by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and other dignitaries.

BBCCopyright: BBC

The plane has stopped, the stairs are out - and the president will soon appear.

President Obama has just landed in Nairobi and people are getting excited on Twitter.

The US President Barack Obama has arrived in Kenya.

Dignitaries have been arriving at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport where President Obama is due to land in the next few minutes.

BBCCopyright: BBC

The BBC's Ferdinand Omondi snapped this picture of the US Ambassador Robert Godec.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Beyond the pomp and ceremony - and the excitement over the "homecoming" - what does this visit of President Obama have to offer Kenya?

Analyst James Shikwati told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme that the visit "is very important because it helps to position Kenya globally and shows that Kenya is strategically important to the US".

The visit may also help Kenyan businesses access global markets, he added.

These factory workers who make sweaters for the US have told the BBC they want President Obama to visit them on this weekend's trip to Nairobi, told the BBC's Angela Ngendo.

BBCCopyright: BBC

This factory exports clothes to the US market as part of the African Growth and Opportunity Act.

BBCCopyright: BBC

This factory employs 8000 unskilled workers and many of them are not aware that the clothes they make are destined for the US market.

BBCCopyright: BBC

A limousine with bullet proof glass nicknamed "The Beast" has arrived at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi to pick up President Obama.

BBCCopyright: BBC

The car, which was flown in from the US, has eight-inch thick steel plates, five-inch thick bulletproof glass, Kevlar-reinforced tyres, and a presidential blood bank in the boot, according to AFP news agency.

BBCCopyright: BBC

BBC Pop Up went out on the streets of Nairobi to ask if President Obama should talk about gay rights.

Mr Obama has already said that he disagrees with Deputy President Ruto who has said "gay relations" were "dirty".

This is how Kenyans reacted:

BBCCopyright: BBC

BBCCopyright: BBC

The spokesman for Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has tried to clarify his remarks that a US ban on arms sales to the Nigerian military "unwittingly... aided and abetted Boko Haram".

The spokesman said the president was not accusing the US government of supporting the Islamist militants, and added that President Buhari expects greater cooperation from America after his Washington visit.

AFPCopyright: AFP

So what should Kenyans expect will result from President Obama's visit?

The BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme has been hearing from people in Senegal where Mr Obama visited in 2013 - and there were some sceptical views:

One man said: "There was a lack of consideration towards African people when he came... Apart from that, Obama signed many deals but we haven't seen anything yet."

AFPCopyright: AFP

Another Dakar resident said: "I really thought his visit would change things with the visit of a great man like Barack Obama, but little has changed on the economic, political and social side."

One of President Obama's stops on his trip to Kenya will be to speak at a global entrepreneurship summit.

The BBC's Milton Nkosi met one of the entrepreneurs who will be at the summit.

Alfie Amalia Kariuki started a gym which costs $1 a day.

The cost of one treadmill in an upmarket gym is the same as the cost of all the more basic equipment in her gym:

BBCCopyright: BBC

Burundi's main opposition leader Agathon Rwasa told the BBC that the presidential election result, which saw Pierre Nkurunziza elected for a controversial third term, was "a joke".

He said he is calling for free and fair elections.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza has won 69% of the vote while Agathon Rwasa got 19 %.

BBCCopyright: BBC

The man in the specially decorated hi-viz jacket (note the US and Kenyan flags) is Eric Kiraithe, the head of security at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

The BBC's Ferdinand Omondi snapped him being frisked in a sign that no-one is exempt from security checks today as people wait for President Obama to arrive.

AFPCopyright: AFP

There's no doubt about the general level of excitement ahead of President Obama's "homecoming", but there is also some irritation.

One Nairobi resident told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme: "There's a good part and a bad part to the visit. The bad thing is that we have massive traffic jams, but it's good to have the president here as he's not been home as president."

APCopyright: AP

Another resident said: "I'm happy that he's coming, but I'm also not happy because many activities are not going on - the roads are closed, and we're not going to school."

Foundation stones laid for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations stadium in Gabon by Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi and President Ali Bongo Ondimba have gone missing, the Gabonese newspaper L'Union reports.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Gabon denied claims that they paid Messi a $3.8m (£2.4m) appearance fee earlier in the week.

Meanwhile, some parts of Nairobi are eerily empty of cars.

The BBC's Abdinoor Maalim took these picture:

BBCCopyright: BBC

The streets which are usually full of cars and minibuses are calm ahead of the expected arrival of President Barrack Obama in a few hours' time.

And the minibus drivers are left without customers. Here's one having a nap instead.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Major roads such as Uhuru Highway and Mombasa road are expected to be closed down.

BBCCopyright: BBC

People are beginning to gather along Mombasa Road which is on the way to the airport where President Obama is due to touch down in around two hours.

They're choosing their own way to celebrate the visit.

BBCCopyright: BBC

BBCCopyright: BBC

Nathan, an 18-year-old law student, had this t-shirt specially made for him. It reads 'Obama is coming' in Luo.

More photos are on the BBC World Service Facebook page.

While people are gearing up for President Obama to touch down in Nairobi, Kenya, few people know that there could have been a Nairobi in the US.

In the 1960s Americans campaigned to change the name of East Palo Alto to Nairobi.

They wanted to reflect the heritage of the people who lived in the area which was 80% African American.

Everything was named Nairobi - the school, the college, the main store.

Palo Alto Historical AssociationCopyright: Palo Alto Historical Association

But the campaign to change the name of the city failed.

Listen to Kenyan journalist Dickens Onditi Olewe, clearly shocked, meet the people who were obsessed with his own home city.

BBCCopyright: BBC

The front page story of the Ghanaian newspaper Daily Graphic says people mistook the filming of a robbery scene on the street as real.

The film crew blocked roads in a suburb of Accra, the capital, and held artificial guns in the scene.

Panicked motorists bombarded police with calls.

Police arrested 11 of the film crew for staging a film without permission.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Burundi's electoral commission has announced that President Pierre Nkurunziza won Tuesday's presidential election with more than 69% of the vote.

He has been elected for a controversial third term. His decision to run sparked months of protest and calls for the poll to be delayed.

Agathon Rwasa, who withdrew from the race after the ballot papers were printed, came second with nearly 19% of the vote.

Results for Burundi's presidential election are trickling in, district-by-district.

The BBC's Maud Jullien is tweeting the results as she gets them:

"Obama is not the president of Africa," says Francis Ssentongo Snr from Kampala in Uganda in response to BBC World Have Your Say asking:

PACopyright: PA

"Africa has its own presidents who are supposed to work for their own countries rather than expecting Obama to work for their countries when he has things to work upon in USA," he said.

"Give Obama a break. He was not elected by Americans to work for Africa."

For more on this debate, listen to World Have Your Say in a few minutes at 14:05 GMT.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

The US "has been its own worst enemy" when it comes to investment in Africa, says Africa analyst Ken Kamoche from the University of Nottingham.

Speaking ahead of President Obama's trip to Kenya and Ethiopia Professor Kamoche told the BBC the US has made too many demands in exchange for trade and investment.

China, which has been more pragmatic, has filled the gap left by the Americans.

Police in South Africa say there have no evidence linking any suspect to the murder of footballer Senzo Meyiwa, nine months after he was killed in front of his girlfriend and family members.

Meyiwa, captain of the national team Bafana Bafana was shot dead at his girlfriend's home in Vooslorus, east of Johannesburg.

The police, who are at times criticised for bungling cases, are under increasing pressure to make an arrest and have Meyiwa's killers brought to justice.

This would go some way in restoring the public's faith in them.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

British Airways has said it is stopping all flights to and from Uganda as they are "no longer commercially viable".

The last flight out from Entebbe airport to London's Heathrow will depart on 3 October 2015, the UK carrier said.

British Airways operates four flights a week to Entebbe.

However, their rates are not as competitive as the ones offered by other airlines, says BBC Uganda analyst Alex Jakana.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Obamatini anyone? While waiting for President Obama to arrive in Kenya you could try this cocktail invented by the Juniper Gardens bar in the capital, Nairobi.

It's a combination of arugula (or rocket), gin, lime nectar syrup and cucumber.

The BBC's Jackie Christie - who had the tough job of sipping the drink - says it's "refreshing and alternative".

Arugula, by the way, is thought to be one of the president's favourite vegetables.

BBCCopyright: BBC

The press are now all set up at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to capture the moment when President Obama touches down.

He should be landing at just after 17:00 GMT - so only a four-hour wait in store for the president's "homecoming" as it's being called in Kenya.

The visit of US President Obama to Kenya has led to a few changes in the capital including to the prayer schedule.

BBCCopyright: BBC

The mosques here, including the Jamia Mosque in the city centre (above), are closing earlier than they usually do on a Friday.

Normally prayers end at 14:00 local time (11:00 GMT) but today they were over by 13:00.

On Thursday, worshippers were asked to come early to avoid any inconvenience as major roads are being closed.

Journal RappeCopyright: Journal Rappe

Reuters news agency reports that Gambian rapper Ali Cham better known as "Killa Ace" is seeking asylum in neighbouring Senegal after receiving death threats on the day of his new song's release.

In the song Ku Boka C Geta G the rapper accuses the Gambian authorities of growing repression and extra-judicial killings.

Killa Ace rapped about freedom of speech on a Senegalese news programme at the beginning of July.

He said that people end up in detention "for saying the wrong things".

Somali forces say they have forced the Islamist insurgent group al-Shabab out of a key town, Dinsor, in the southwest of the country.

They were supported by African Union forces.

It comes two days after the group acknowledged it had lost control of another town, Bardere, although the militants said they had made a tactical withdrawal.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Last week the African Union and Somali forces launched an offensive aimed at flushing the militants out of the largely rural areas of southern Somalia.

Six Burundian government officials may be facing targeted sanctions from the European Union, according to Euractiv.com, a website which closely follows EU news.

Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief, said the EU "is preparing... to adopt, if necessary, targeted restrictive measures against those whose actions led to acts of violence, repression and serious human rights abuses or hinder the search for a political solution".

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Burundians are currently waiting for the result from Tuesday's controversial presidential election in which President Pierre Nkurunziza was running for a third term.

Is this Washington or Nairobi?

It's harder to tell today as US flags adorn junctions and roundabouts towards the airport where US President Obama is expected to land tonight.

BBCCopyright: BBC

BBCCopyright: BBC

But looks like the grass planted to beautify Nairobi before he came will grow after he has left...

BBCCopyright: BBC

Just a reminder that there are other bilateral presidential visits at the moment.

Zambia's President Edgar Lungu has been on a trip to Uganda, as one of President Yoweri Museveni's press team has been tweeting:

Is this the third, fourth or fifth visit to Africa for Barack Obama as president?

It seems to depend on who's counting and what's being included, but this is the list of his visits so far:

• Egypt- June 2009

AFPCopyright: AFP

• Ghana - July 2009

AFPCopyright: AFP

• Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania - June/July 2013

AFPCopyright: AFP

• South Africa (following Nelson Mandela's death) - December 2013

AFPCopyright: AFP

So the trip to Kenya and Ethiopia will be the president's fifth visit.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Nigeria is marking one year without a recorded polio case.

Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries to record cases in 2015.

Global health experts are hoping polio can become only the second human infectious disease to be eradicated.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Kenyan victims of the 1998 US embassy al-Qaeda bombing in Nairobi are protesting outside the Memorial Park ahead of President Barack Obama's visit to the site on Saturday, privately-owned NTV reports.

The victims say they have not yet been compensated by the American government.

"The main aim of the terrorists, is to harm and cause pain to the victims," the victims association chairman, George Thigi said.

"When victims are compensated or taken care of, then terrorists have lost their war. "But now it seems on the American embassy victims, the terrorists won," he said.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

One issue that may prove difficult when US President Barack Obama visits Kenya later today is gay rights.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

He told the BBC's Jon Sopel that he disagrees with Deputy President William Ruto, who he will meet.

Mr Ruto called gay relations "dirty".

He added that he has been in this situation before when he visited Senegal.

"I was very blunt about my belief that everybody deserves fair treatment, equal treatment in the eyes of the law and the state."

Read the full transcript of the interview

Listen to the interview

Watch the video

AFPCopyright: AFP

The excitement about what is being described here in Kenya as Obama's "homecoming" is particularly high in his father's home area of western Kenya.

The Luo language Nam Lolwe FM this morning carried a report on the official opening of a museum in western Kenya's Homa Bay county.

The Obama Kanyadhiang Museum has a house in which Barack Obama is said to have slept in when he visited Kenya for the first time in 1988.

It also has a papyrus mat which Barack Obama is said to have slept on during that visit.

The platinum producer Lonmin has announced it is going to close or mothball several mine shafts in South Africa, with as many as 6,000 jobs at risk.

South Africa has most of the world's platinum, and the mines are an important part of its economy.

World platinum prices are falling, making Lonmin's operations much less profitable.

D. Poland/PATHCopyright: D. Poland/PATH

The world's first malaria vaccine has cleared one of the final hurdles prior to being approved for use in Africa.

The European Medicines Agency gave a positive scientific opinion after assessing the Mosquirix jab.

GlaxoSmithKline has not revealed the price of the vaccine, but the drugs company pledged not to make a profit from it.

It has been designed specifically to combat malaria infection in children in Africa and will not be licensed for travellers.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Kenya will be looking to see what support it can get from the US at a time when defeating the threat from the militant group al-Shabab is uppermost.

Its security forces have been receiving funding, equipment and training from the US but with the lingering threat from the al-Qaeda linked group, the Kenyan government thinks there is still more that can be achieved.

President Obama would want to ensure that although this bilateral cooperation is deepening, his government will not be turning a blind eye to the allegations of human rights violations by Kenya's security agencies.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Here's an outline of what President Obama has got planned for his trip to Kenya and Ethiopia over the next few days.

Today

• Due to arrive in Nairobi, Kenya this evening at just after 17:00 GMT
• No official plans for the day

Saturday

• Speech at the Global Entrepreneurial Summit in the morning
• Visit to memorial park to remember those who died in 1997 US embassy bombing in the afternoon
• Meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta
• State dinner in Nairobi

BBCCopyright: BBC

Sunday

• Arena speech in Nairobi and meeting with civil society leaders before leaving Kenya for Ethiopia

BBCCopyright: BBC

BBCCopyright: BBC

Along with the extensive newspaper coverage of President Obama's imminent arrival in Kenya, there has also been a lot of airtime devoted to it on TV.

Some stations are running special shows either specifically on the visit or the Obama presidency in general.

Kenya's leading TV channel, the privately-owned Citizen TV, featured a local band singing in its studios a song praising the president.

The song was sung in Luo, the language of Obama's father and the studio set featured a banner reading "Obama's Grand Return".

President Obama has defended his decision to visit Ethiopia as part of his East African trip.

White House/Amanda LucidonCopyright: White House/Amanda Lucidon

The BBC's Jon Sopel asked him about this pointing out that there is effectively no opposition in parliament in Addis Ababa.

"In the same way that I visited Russia, and in the same way that I visited China, even when we know that there are significant human rights violations taking place, we want to make sure that we're there so that we can have this conversation and point them in a better direction," he responded.

He is due to arrive in Ethiopia on Sunday.

Read the full transcript of the interview

Listen to the interview

People DailyCopyright: People Daily

The Kenyan Standard and People Daily paper are also going big on Obama's visit.

When US President Barack Obama comes to Kenya he will talk about entrepreneurship at a summit in Nairobi.

He explained to the BBC's Jon Sopel that he thinks there is a link between entrepreneurship and security.

"When people see opportunity, when they see control of their own destiny, then they are less vulnerable to the propaganda and twisted ideologies that have been attracting young people particularly being turbo-charged through social media."

Amanda Lucidon/White HouseCopyright: Amanda Lucidon/White House

He added that he thinks it's important the president of the United States "isn't intimidated by" terror organisations.

Read the full transcript of the interview

Listen to the interview

Daily NationCopyright: Daily Nation

The Kenyan newspapers are in full Obama mode. The Daily Nation bids him welcome and has pages of coverage for what Kenyans are calling a "homecoming".

Today's African proverb: "The earliest cow to the creek drinks clean water." A Luyana/Lozi proverb sent by Mulako Sianga, Kitwe, Zambia.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Hello and welcome to the BBC Africa Live page for Friday, where we'll be keeping you up-to-date with news developments across the continent on the day that the US President Barack Obama is due to visit Kenya, the birthplace of his father.

To get involved, tweet us using #BBCAfricaLive.