(CNN) — Former President Barack Obama will travel to his father’s homeland of Kenya in July as part of a trip that will include stops in South Africa, Spain and Portugal. Obama will visit Kenya from July 15-16, where he’ll attend the inauguration of a youth sports center founded by his sister, Auma Obama. The vocational center in Siaya County aims to provide educational and economic opportunities to help young people serve their communities, and shares a similar mission as the former President’s Obama Foundation. “Given that his own mission under the Obama Foundation is to inspire and empower people to change the world, his attendance at this event at our ancestral home, where our father was laid to rest, is of great significance to me,” Auma Obama said. The two share a father but have different mothers. They have described their close relationship, and Auma Obama attended his 2009 inauguration and was a big part of the President’s 2015 visit to Kenya. During that visit, his sister rode in the President’s car nicknamed the beast after he landed at the airport. While in Kenya next month, Obama will also meet with the nation’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, and opposition leader Raila Odinga. Other countries From Kenya, Obama will head to South Africa between July 16-19, where he’ll meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa and also speak at an event in honor of Nelson Mandela’s birthday in Johannesburg. He’ll also take part in a town hall with the 200 newly selected Obama Foundation leaders in Africa. “President Obama looks forward to meeting these emerging leaders for the first time, hearing about the extraordinary work they are doing across Africa, and discussing how the Obama Foundation can support their civic leadership development,” his office said. Before jetting to Africa, Obama will visit Spain and Portugal from July 5-7. During that trip, he’ll speak at an economy and innovation conference in Madrid, Spain, and also visit Porto, Portugal, where he’ll attend a climate change leadership summit.<doc-sep>Former President Barack Obama will meet with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, as well as former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga. | Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images Obama to meet with Kenyan and South African leaders Former President Barack Obama will meet with the leaders of Kenya and South Africa on a trip overseas next month, his office said Friday. Obama will meet with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, as well as former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga. The meetings are the latest in a string of talks the former president has had with sitting world leaders since leaving office. The former president has drawn some criticism for meeting with sitting leaders. Among the leaders Obama has met with are German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Argentinian President Mauricio Macri and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. POLITICO Playbook newsletter Sign up today to receive the #1-rated newsletter in politics Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or updates from POLITICO and you agree to our privacy policy and terms of service. You can unsubscribe at any time and you can contact us here. This sign-up form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. For his latest trip, the former president will first visit Spain and Portugal. Obama will speak at the 2018 Circular Economy and Innovation Summit in Madrid, and then at the Climate Change Leadership Porto 2018 Summit in Porto that same afternoon. The trip will span from July 5 to July 7, according to his office. The next week, Obama will travel to Nairobi on July 15 and meet with Kenyatta in that city. He will then go to Alego on July 16 to deliver “brief opening remarks” at the inauguration of the Sauti Kuu Foundation Sports, Resource and Vocational Training Centre before departing for Johannesburg. The following day, Obama will meet with South Africa’s leader and deliver the Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture to commemorate the anniversary of the revolutionary’s birth. Rounding out the trip, Obama will hold a town hall event with the 200 newly-selected Obama Foundation Leaders in Africa on July 18.<doc-sep>
Former President Obama will travel to Kenya and South Africa next month for an Obama Foundation initiative, where he will meet with the two countries' presidents and hold a town hall with 200 new Obama Foundation leaders in Africa. According to a press release issued by the former president's office on Friday, Obama will meet with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga, the country's former prime minister. ADVERTISEMENT "President Obama will travel to Alego for the inauguration of the Sauti Kuu Foundation’s Sports, Resource and Vocational Training Centre, where he will deliver brief opening remarks," the statement reads. "Sauti Kuu, which stands for 'powerful voices,' provides educational, economic and cultural opportunities to help young people change their lives and communities." Following his visit to Kenya, Obama will travel to Johannesburg, where he will meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa and deliver remarks at the Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture to commemorate Mandela's birth. To conclude his trip, Obama will host a town town hall with 200 newly chosen Obama Foundation leaders as part of the foundation's new Leaders in Africa initiative. “President Obama looks forward to meeting these emerging leaders for the first time, hearing about the extraordinary work they are doing across Africa, and discussing how the Obama Foundation can support their civic leadership development,” the statement said. The former president has been active with his charitable foundation since leaving office. Earlier this year Obama announced a job-training initiative in his longtime home of Chicago, aimed at high school students in the city's South Side. In January, the foundation announced Chicago would be the site for the 44th president's official presidential library, a sprawling facility that would include a 235-foot tall museum, community athletic center and an outdoor plaza once completed.