Editor,

All along time and again Africa has been stereotyped in so many ways: Africa is a dark continent, nothing good can come from Africa, and so on and so forth. This is what actually killed Africa, and not until we as Africans take a stance and be proud to be Africans, we shall always lag behind the Western world or super powers as they like calling themselves.

First and foremost, Africa’s development is embedded in African culture. Why should we always despise our own and assimilate into culture that does not belong to us? This is, according to me, where we go wrong and perhaps puts us in a state of underdevelopment.

The real cause of underdevelopment that we see in Africa today was created by ourselves and the solution to the same will too be born out of us. Africa, to the best of my knowledge, is a rich continent; we just need visionary leaders to change our mindsets with a positive thinking to bring in systematic development.

Let’s look at Africa as Africans and not as Rwandan, Kenyan, Ugandan. We should get rid of the stereotypes to stir up development in Africa, and stick to unity in diversity. Thank you.

David Nkusi, NyanzaRwanda

Reaction to Joseph Rwagatare’s opinion, "Why Africa must get most from new rush”, (The New Times, June 4)