President Paul Kagame has challenged the youth  to invest in themselves to ensure that they are prepared enough to become the future leaders the country needs.

The Head of State was yesterday addressing over two thousand young people living in the country and in the Rwandan community abroad.

"You are the ministers, presidents and leaders of tomorrow. Rwanda expects a lot from each of you. Now is the time to prepare for that role. It is now, it is you,” Kagame told the youth, challenging them to not let opportunities go to waste.

"The difference between failure and opportunity is failure looks for you. But you are the one to keep pursuing opportunities. You have the task of not getting tired of pursuing opportunities,” Kagame said.

The Head of State also advised the youth to take care of their health first.

"Every one of you has a family, friends and loved ones. When you invest in yourself, you are thinking about them as well,” he added

"When you are not well, as an individual, as a family, the country is not well. If the country is not well, you are not well. This explains the essence and purpose of us all working together”.

President Kagame said drugs and alcohol abuse were on the rise and that this undermines the health of the youth, hence affecting their development, that of their families as well as the development of the entire country.

"There is absolutely nothing good with associating with drugs,” he warned, adding that; "If you see a friend or relative take this route, why don’t you stand up and tell your friend...it is killing you, our family and our country,” he added.

The Head of State also called on the youth to prioritise education.

He said that the young need to up their game in order to become innovative and promote entrepreneurship.

"Education means understanding the world around you and learning to lead in this complicated world. You have to get skills and do your best with your skills. Do something that benefits you but also benefits others,” he said

"We are not short of problems and we cannot have too many innovative ideas to deal with these problems. But it does not come automatically, you have to work at it”.

The President also called on the youth to strive to give the best of themselves.

"Keep pushing yourself to the limit. All of you here are doing 50% of what you are actually able to do, because you don’t push yourself to the limit. It is in you. You have the potential. The rest is up to you to make the decision,” Kagame said.

Earlier in the day, participants heard about various initiatives to afford the youth the opportunities to fulfill their potential as well as successful projects founded by youth to contribute to Rwanda’s transformation.

The panel included Rosemary Mbabazi, the Minister for Youth; Edouard Bamporiki, Chairman of National Itorero Commission; Yvette Ishimwe, founder of Iriba Water Group; and Moses Gashirabake, a Canada based lawyer and co-founder of the International Rwanda Youth for Development (IRYD).

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