U.S. President George W. Bush signed an agreement on Sunday to give $698 million US to Tanzania to build infrastructure.
 
After the signing in the capital, Dar es Salaam, he said at a news conference he also wants to increase spending on AIDS prevention in Africa.

Bush opened his remarks by saying "Vipi Mambo!" before turning to U.S. journalists and adding, "For the uneducated, that's Swahili for Howdy Y'all."

The president called on the U.S. Congress to double the budget of a program to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa to $30 billion US when it comes up for a vote on renewal this year. The money would be spent over the next five years.

Later on Sunday, Bush met with HIV-positive patients and doctors at the AIDS treatment wing of the city's Amana Hospital, funded in part with U.S. dollars from the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

Bush, nearing the end of a presidency dominated by the war in Iraq, is targeting disease and poverty in his visits to five African nations.

The president and first lady Laura Bush began their African trip in Benin in West Africa, then flew to the east coast of the continent to Tanzania.

He also plans to visit Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia.

While his approval rating in the US hovers near record lows, Bush is treated with reverence in some African nations.

A crowd of people, some wearing clothing bearing Bush's image, waved tiny U.S. and Tanzanian flags as Bush and Jakaya Kikwete, president of Tanzania, walked down a red carpet into the State House in Dar es Salaam.

With files from the Associated Press