BICOM

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta’s inauguration ceremony in Nairobi yesterday.

During his visit Netanyahu met with the leaders of Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Rwanda, Togo, Botswana, Namibia, Ethiopia and the Vice President of Nigeria. This was the his third visit to Africa 18 months, part of a concerted effort to deepen ties between Israel and African countries.

Speaking at the inauguration, Netanyahu told the crowd: “We would like to work with you and with every one of your countries to electrify Africa. We believe in Africa. So for every one of your initiatives, there will be an initiative on our part to seize the future, to make life better and safer for your people.”

“I hope that we will all find a way to have Israel to get observer status in the African Union because we can help, we can not only observe, we can help build together a better future for Africa,” he added.

The Israeli Prime Minister announced after his meeting with Rwandan President Paul Kagame that Israel will open a new embassy in Kigali and work has begin to open a direct air link between the two countries.