President Paul Kagame has urged East Africans bloc to overcome mindsets that prevent the region from entirely opening up its borders to increased trade and the easy movement of people.

Kagame’s view was also shared with his Kenyan counterpart, President Uhuru Kenyatta, today, during the ongoing East African Business Summit taking place in Kigali.

Speaking to an audience of politicians, investors and leaders from the business world, Kagame said the benefits of integration are immense, and that people harboring misconceptions that their national interests will be harmed, are slowing down the process.

"We must show fellow East Africans that (national) fears are unfounded. Opening up to the region is very beneficial. Having a deeper and broader access to the market has served Rwanda much better than working in a smaller space,” Kagame said.

"It is up to the leaders to address fears raised by nationals about employing foreigners. Some people in the region think that their jobs will be taken away because of integration and yet in reality, it is about working together to complement each other on the skills that one country may not have.”

President Uhuru echoed the sentiments shared by Kagame, saying that the region must change the "wrong attitudes” held by some.

 "Some people are skeptic about integration. They think they are protecting their national interests. However, above all, we are East Africans. Being East African supersedes being from any individual country,” Kenyatta said.

"It is through the integration that a Customs Union was created, as well as a common market, and these have had immense contributions to the advancement of trade and investment across our countries. We have had a lot of progress but now more than ever, we need to open up further.”

The East African Business Summit is a biannual event organized by the Nation Media Group, Citi Bank, KPMG, Deloitte and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.