Speaking yesterday on a panel of Heads of State titled ‘Have your say! Dialogue with Leaders’ at the ongoing Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB), President Paul Kagame said that African countries should do away with old colonial tendencies which emphasise national borders rather than regional integration. 

"We rise together or fall together. It is not going to be enough for one country to do so well when others are doing so badly,” he said. 

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba and Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto were the other panelists. 

Responding to Africa’s need for self-reliance, President Kagame pointed to the remnant of colonialism still afflicting the continent.

"Don’t worry about new colonial efforts because the old ones have not yet left us. We have suffered colonialism and external influence that define us as Anglophone or Francophone. What we should do now is to construct infrastructure that stretches out of our national jurisdictions,” he said.

"Our weaknesses in Africa have become a source of temptation for others to abuse our resources and dictate terms. We should ensure that our natural resources benefit our citizens first before they benefit anyone else.” 

President Bongo added that without peace and security, Africa’s aspirations will not be viable. 

Reacting to a question from the audience, Ondimba said that despite Africa’s enormous resources and stable economic growth, insecurity in several parts of the continent is a disruption to sustainable development.

"We must be practical. Talking about trade and other nice things are more soothing to the ear than security. But it won’t be until we have sufficient security against internal, regional and continental threats that we can be sure of real development,” Ondimba said.

"After achieving security, we can be confident that our achievements will be safeguarded, and also have the capacity to construct infrastructure such as regional railways, airports and highways that will facilitate trade and help us to integrate faster.”

President Museveni said that although the continent has made commendable socioeconomic progress, which no other continent has matched over the last 50 years, there is still need for genuine ambition and political will.

"Statistics show that Africa has high rates of growth in spite of lack of infrastructure – no roads, no electricity. That shows you the great potential on this continent.  

"But the problem of growing without infrastructure is that; the sectors which create more jobs, like manufacturing, are not the ones  that grow,” Museveni said.

The EAC case

He added: "I have always believed that industrialisation is the sure way through which we can develop. We in East Africa are fast-tracking initiatives that will ensure that our borders are not an obstacle. Between Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda, many exciting projects are ongoing in railway, road construction and facilitation of regional trade.”

Despite its abundant natural resources, including a population of 1.1 billion, rich soils, vast minerals and oil, Africa remains the world’s poorest and most underdeveloped continent.

Observers point to corruption, conflicts and untapped private sector among others.

However, Kenya’s Deputy President Ruto expressed optimism saying that Africa would soon emerge from its current challenges. He said many countries have started to aggressively invest in industrialisation and regional integration, which are key to prosperity.

"There is good news coming. Look at what integration has done for East Africa…goods from Mombasa take six days to reach Kigali where it used to take 22 days. Goods from Mombasa to Kampala now take only four days instead of 14. We need to expand intra-Africa trade to prosper together,” he said.

The 49th AfDB General Meetings will close today.