Davos, 21 January 2016
On the second day of the Davos World Economic Forum, President Kagame joined Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn, African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina, Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Hans Vestberg, the chief executive officer of Ericsson for a discussion on Africa’s Next Challenge.
President Kagame emphasized to the audience that skills to put energy in place are already available in Africa;
“What is needed is to examine why we Africans are not moving as fast as we should be. There is a silver lining around Africa’s challenges. They make us, in Rwanda and Africa, think harder and smarter. Challenges remind us there are things we should be doing that are within our means. We know if we traded amongst ourselves we would have a higher GDP growth. These are things we don’t have to wait for. We can easily compensate what we are losing from outside by concentrating on what we can do between and among ourselves.”
“Before people worry about technology replacing jobs, why don’t we concentrate on using it for the right reason: productivity? In Africa we have a deficit of technology for productivity, how do we start worrying about a problem before solving another?” President Kagame added
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam added that; “Africa is not a doomed continent, it is a rising continent with challenges we can address together.”
President Kagame ended the day with Rwanda Night, a cultural evening hosted by Rwanda.
This year’s World Economic Forum theme is ‘Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution.’
ENDS