Kampala — US Senator Barack Obama will today embark on a 17-day trip to Africa.

In a press statement yesterday Illinois Senator will visit his native Kenya, South Africa, DR Congo, Djibouti and Sudan, where he will meet refugees from the troubled Darfur region of southern Sudan.

'The trip will spotlight important issues facing Africa, such as the spread of HIV/Aids, genocide in Darfur, the prospects for parts of Africa becoming a haven for terrorists and what role America can play in the region," the statement said.

Born of a Kenyan economics student and an American white wife, Obama, 45, is a Senator for Illinois. A member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee panel on African Affairs, Obama is the only black person in the US Senate, the highest House of the US Congress.

He last visited Kenya more than a decade ago long before he became a senator. His trip starts in Cape Town at Robben Island, the infamous prison where former South African President Nelson Mandela was jailed during the apartheid years.