ACCRA (Ghana) - IN HIS first visit to sub-Saharan Africa since taking office, President Barack Obama is seeking to lift up the continent of his ancestors - while keeping its emotions in check.

Greeted by a rush of excitement on his arrival here, America's first black president planned a speech to Ghana's Parliament on Saturday outlining his hope for a future Africa prospering in democracy. He was also visiting a hospital and a one-time slave trading post, joined by his wife, Michelle, a great-great-granddaughter of slaves.

But his speech was also pitched as a sobering account of Africa's enduring afflictions: hunger, disease, corruption, ethnic strife and strongman rule.

And during his 21-hour sojourn, no big public event was planned - in part for fear it could cause a celebratory stampede, as a 1998 stop by President Bill Clinton nearly did.

Selecting Ghana as the starting point of his black Africa travels, the president sought to highlight a continental success story.

'You've got ... a functioning democracy, a president who's serious about reducing corruption, and you've seen significant economic growth,' he told a news conference in Italy on Friday.

Mr Obama was to hold talks with President John Atta Mills, who took over from longtime leader John Kufuor in January - a peaceful democratic handoff all too rare for the continent.

Mr Obama flew to West Africa after the G-8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, approved a new US$20 billion (S$29 billion) food security plan. It aims to help poor nations in Africa and elsewhere avert mass starvation during the global recession.

He also had a cordial first meeting with Pope Benedict XVI. In their half-hour private audience at the Vatican, the two reviewed Mideast peace and anti-poverty efforts, aides reported. They also discussed abortion and stem cell research at length, Benedict giving Obama a treatise on bioethics to read while flying here, the White House said.

In Ghana, enthusiastic drummers greeted Mr Obama, the first lady and daughters Malia and Sasha as they stepped off Air Force One just after 9pm local time. Mills and his wife led dignitaries along a red carpet, wearing colorful traditional garb. -- AP

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