Davos, 24 January 2018
President Kagame began day two at World Economic Forum in Davos by delivering closing remarks at the Peace-building in Africa. Aimed at deepening peace and stability in Africa through multi-stakeholder collaboration, the discussion was also attended by President Alpha Condé of Guinea, Vice President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre of Somalia, President and Member of World Economic Forum Managing Board Børge Brende, Former Prime Minister of UK Tony Blair and Former US Secretary John Kerry.
On Rwanda’s vision and perspective to peacebuilding in Africa, President Kagame said, “there’s no miracle performed in Rwanda. We tried to own our problems and solutions and we understood that local ownership is very important to us as Rwandans. We were opened minded to others but there’s absolutely need to own the process. People were telling us we needed to divide our country into different states but we laughed it off. We told them we are having a conversation as Rwandans so who and how are you telling us what to do? You cannot import solutions from outside and impose them on people and expect them to work. It cannot. I’m speaking from experience.”
This session will be part of a series of discussions on shaping the regional diplomacy agenda in Sub Saharan Africa.
“We have seen much progress over the years but it is still very important to own our challenges, look for real solutions and build our capacity.” President Kagame concluded.
President Kagame also met with President Alpha Condé of Guinea, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and Former Prime Minister of United Kingdom Rt. Hon David Cameron.