Barack Obama, the US president, has landed in Ethiopia, beginning a two-day stay and becoming the first American leader to visit Africa’s second most populous nation.
The president’s jet touched down at Addis Ababa’s international airport on Sunday after a short flight north from the Kenyan capital Nairobi, and he was greeted on the tarmac by Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.
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The visit will include talks with the Ethiopian government, a key strategic ally but criticised for its record on democracy and human rights.
Obama will also become the first US president to address the African Union, the 54-member continental bloc, at its Chinese-built headquarters.
He will also hold talks with regional leaders on the civil war in South Sudan.
AU Commission chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma hailed what she said will be an “historic visit” and a “concrete step to broaden and deepen the relationship between the AU and the US.”
