Pope Francis will on his first trip to Africa visit Kenya, Uganda and Central Africa Republic, CAR, next month, but has overlooked coming to Nigeria.

On Saturday, the Vatican said the Pope will meet slum dwellers and refugees and call for dialogue between Christians and Muslims in Kenya, Uganda and Central African Republic, but is not considering a visit to Nigeria, which is under incessant attack of the fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram.

Despite security concerns facing him on the trip, the Pope will spend about two days in each of the listed countries and visit only the capitals.

Pope Francis, who is the first Latin American Catholic Pontiff, has met the most needy on each of his 10 foreign tours.

In Nairobi, he will visit Kangemi, a slum that is home to 650,000 people and will also hold an inter-religious meeting and say a Mass at a university in the capital.

It would be recalled that Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall came under attack in September 2013 leaving at least 67 people dead.

The attack was launched by gunmen of the Somalia-based Islamist group al Shabaab.

In April this year, militants attacked the Garissa University College in eastern Kenya, killing 148 people, most of them Christian.

In Uganda, Pope Francis is scheduled to visit a home for the disabled in Nalukolongo, a suburb of the capital, Kampala.

The last stop for the Pope is Bangui, the capital of CAR, a country plagued by inter-communal violence, where he would meet with Muslim leaders in the Koudoukou mosque.