U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heads to Africa Monday on a trip aimed at highlighting the Obama administration's commitment to making Africa a priority in U.S. foreign policy.
Clinton's first scheduled stop on her seven-nation trip will be Kenya where she will attend the U.S.-Sub Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum in Nairobi on Wednesday. The forum is designed to help increase trade between the U.S. and African countries.
During her visit to Kenya, she will meet with the president of Somalia's transitional government (Sheikh Sharif Amed).
Clinton will also visit South Africa, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Liberia and Cape Verde.
Clinton's visit takes place less than a month after President Barack Obama visited Ghana.
The State Department says this is the earliest in any administration that both the president and secretary of state have traveled to Africa.
Mr. Obama's African roots -- his father was Kenyan - have aroused intense interest on the African continent in the administration of Washington's first African American president.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
