Kenya's president said on Wednesday that African nations should be free to cooperate with both the United States and China, warning that foreign powers were exacerbating the continent's divisions.

On a visit to Washington, President Uhuru Kenyatta said he was "very concerned" about a return to the Cold War era, when Africans had to choose between the United States and the Soviet Union.

"Western countries, and their counterparts in Asia and the Middle East, are returned to competition over Africa, in some cases weaponising divisions, pursuing proxy actions and behaving like Africa is for the taking.

"Well, I want to tell you it is not," Kenyatta said at the Atlantic Council think tank, a day before he is set to meet President Donald Trump.

China has been funding billions of dollars worth of infrastructure around the world, including a modern new rail-line between Nairobi and the port of Mombasa, as part of its Belt and Road Initiative.

The United States has been increasingly vocal in urging developing nations to be wary, warning that they can be saddled with unpayable debts to Beijing for projects built largely with Chinese labor.

Asked about the criticism of China, Kenyatta said: "We don't want to be forced to choose.