Kagame urges leaders to prioritise Africa before partnering with the world

President Paul Kagame has issued a rallying call to African leaders to prioritise their continent before partnering with the rest of the world. He was addressing African heads of state during a discussion examining the role of Africa in a changing global order at the ongoing World Economic Forum (WEF), in Davos. Kagame was joined by President of Malawi Lazarus Chakwera, President of Namibia Hage Geingob, President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa, and Philip Mpango Vice President of Tanzania. In his remarks, the President said its time for Africans to stop dwelling on the idea that other parts of the world will pay a lot of attention to Africa and its problems, and that they will always be there to help. This has always been proven to not be the case and that’s why a number of efforts have been carried out at continental level to try and see what Africa can do for itself, he said. Emphasising however, that this doesn’t mean Africa will not partner with others. “While it is true that people talk about African solutions for African problems, the slogan doesn’t mean that Africa doesnt need other people. It just means we start with what we are able to do for ourselves, and then partner with the rest of the world,” the head of state reiterated. He shared an example of when the pandemic struck and exposed not only Africa’s weaknesses but global ones as well. “For us (Africa), it exposed that we don’t even have the public health infrastructure that should be in place with or without a pandemic. That is why in some cases when vaccines came, they were not able to roll them out, they were not able to vaccinate people across the board because infrastructure was lacking to do that,” he added. Kagame pointed out that when the vaccines were found, Africa was openly told to wait and there was no shame about it, a lesson he finds compelling for Africa to wake up. “And there are many things we can do. When we work together even more problems can be solved,” he said. Convening over 50 heads of state among the 2000 leaders and experts, the forum is centred on the theme “History at a Turning point: Government Policies and Business Strategies,” which comes against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Kagame urges leaders to prioritise Africa before partnering with the world