President Joe Biden on Thursday declared that “the world is safer” when the U.S. and Kenya work together as he officially welcomed the leader of the East African nation, William Ruto, to the White House for a state visit. 

“Our two proud democracies continue to draw from the power of the people and the strength of our diversity to write the next chapter of our partnership,” Biden told Ruto during an arrival ceremony full of pageantry on the White House South Lawn Thursday morning.

Following the official welcome, the leaders sat down for an Oval Office meeting before holding a joint press conference Thursday afternoon, where Biden announced he was informing Congress of his intent to name Kenya a major non-NATO ally. 

A senior administration official told reporters the designation is given to countries with “close and strategic working relationships” with the U.S. “This is also big because it's the first major non-Nato ally for us in sub-Saharan Africa,” the official added.

“That’s a fulfillment of years of collaboration,” Biden said during Thursday’s press conference in the White House East Room. “Our joint counterterrorism operations have degraded ISIS and al-Shabaab across East Africa, our mutual support for Ukraine has rallied the world to stand behind the UN charter and our work together on Haiti is helping pave the way to reducing instability and insecurity.”

Kenya is preparing to send 1,000 police officers to Haiti as the country grapples with gang violence. Biden on Thursday thanked Ruto for the move and White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Wednesday told reporters the U.S. is “firmly committed to supporting” it. 

Asked, however, on Thursday why Biden would not consider sending U.S. officers to the Caribbean nation if he considers the mission so critical, the president said that the U.S. deploying forces in the hemisphere would raise questions that could be “easily misrepresented.” 

He went on to note the U.S. is supplying logistics, intelligence and equipment. The U.S. has pledged to contribute $300 million to the effort and Biden on Thursday said he is working on an additional $60 million in equipment assistance. 

Catherine Nzuki, associate fellow for the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said Ruto’s visit is a chance for the U.S. president to “reiterate the point that the U.S. is active in trying to find some sort of peaceful resolution in Haiti.” 

Along with the major non-NATO ally designation, the two leaders are marking a list of new agreements between the countries. 

One of those – dubbed the Nairobi-Washington Vision – is an agreement to issue a “call to action to the international community” to support developing countries and address the burden debt places on such nations. 

“Too many nations are forced to make a choice between development and debt,” Biden said during Thursday’s press conference. 

The president noted that the U.S. is making $250 million available for crisis response in the world’s poorest countries as well as “an initial” $21 billion available to the International Monetary Fund to further support such countries. 

Much of Kenya’s own debt is owed to China and this week’s visit could also be seen as another opportunity for the U.S. to counter China’s investment and influence on the continent. 

Biden on Thursday also hailed agreements between the U.S. and Kenya on technological cooperation, including a new effort to expand affordable internet across East Africa.

The president also touted his efforts to work with Congress to try to make Kenya the first country in Africa to receive funding from the CHIPS and Science Act. The act, signed by Biden in 2022 and considered one of his signature pieces of legislation – puts billions into bringing computer chip manufacturing back to the U.S. from overseas. 

“Together, the United States and Kenya are working to deliver on the challenges that matter most to our people’s lives — health security, economic security, cybersecurity and climate security,” Biden said. “Mr. President, your bold leadership on this front has been important and significantly impactful.”

Thursday night, the leaders will sit down for a formal state dinner in a transparent tent on the South Lawn, designed to allow guests to watch the sun set over the Washington Monument and White House. 

White House Social Secretary Carlos Elizondo told reporters on Wednesday that the walls of the tent will be adorned with candles in a bid to make attendees “feel as if they are at home, even when they are part of a large group.” The tables will be decorated with purple sequin cloths and roses, along with fuchsia and purple African orchids. 

Country music star Brad Paisley will perform along with the Howard Gospel Choir. 

Biden and first lady Jill Biden are gifting Ruto and his wife, Rachel Ruto, with a set of rocking chairs produced by a family-owned company in Troutman, North Carolina. Biden will also give Ruto a book by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the first lady will give her Kenyan counterpart a necklace made by a jeweler in Philadelphia. 

Biden and Ruto kicked off the visit on Wednesday with a roundtable at the White House with business leaders representing both nations. Executives from Google and Teneo are among those who attended, according to the White House.

The White House noted that Kenya’s innovation and technology hub, dubbed “Silicon Savannah,” is home to more than 200 startups. And Sullivan on Wednesday told reporters that the leaders will use the visit to announce new investments in emerging technologies. 

In December 2022, Biden brought together nearly 50 leaders from across Africa for a summit in Washington, where he told leaders he was “all in on Africa’s future” and pledged to visit the continent in 2023. 

Such a trip never materialized last year and Nzuki noted this week’s state visit is a way for Biden to “re-up his achievements in Africa post the U.S.-Africa summit.”

When asked about Biden not keeping his pledge to visit, Sullivan pointed out that 24 officials from the Biden administration have made the trip to the continent since 2022, including the Vice President, first lady Jill Biden and seven members of the president’s cabinet.