New Delhi, 11 March 2018
President Kagame is in New Delhi where he is attending the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Founding Summit.
Co-hosted by India and France, ISA is a treaty-based international inter-governmental alliance of 121 solar resource rich countries collaborating to achieve speed, scale and skills for deploying available solar technologies.
Addressing the Summit, President Kagame pointed out that solar power is the answer to climate change.
“The sunniest countries on Earth should not lack for energy. The fact that they do is an unacceptable irony. It is therefore fitting that more than half of countries that have signed and ratified the International Solar Alliance treaty are African. We are not just protecting the environment; we are protecting people and their well-being,” President Kagame said.
The President added that solar power will not address all of Africa’s energy needs.
“What is important, is that we continue to work together through this new institution and beyond, to put our collective resources and knowledge at the disposal of our planet’s future,” President Kagame said.
The one-day Summit gathers around 20 Heads of State and Governments, as well as senior representatives from Africa and island states.
President Kagame also held meetings with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Emmanuel Macron of France, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea and UN Environment Executive Director Erik Solheim on the sidelines of the International Solar Alliance Founding Conference.