Kigali, 23 March 2017

President Kagame today received the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Secretary General, Mukhisa Kituyi with whom he discussed the Youth Connect Africa Summit which will take place in Kigali in July this year.

Speaking about the objective of his visit, the Secretary General said:

“The President accepted that we could have a dedicated session where we expand discussions on new opportunities for young African entrepreneurs particularly in electronic commerce. He has decided to invite from across the continent Presidents to join him in Kigali. I will be coming with a special envoy of UNCTAD, Jack Ma, who is the founder of Alibaba, one of the most successful ICT entrepreneurs in the world. His main brief is to help strengthen opportunities for young small scale entrepreneurs using electronic platforms.”

 

The Minister of Trade, Industry and East African Community Affairs, Francois Kanimba said the upcoming Youth Connect Summit would bring together leading entrepreneurs in electronic commerce, including Jack Ma, who he said would inspire African youth to take up opportunities in e-commerce.

The Minister said that partnership with UNCTAD would further enable the growth of trade of local products to international markets.

President Kagame later met with the head of the Rwanda cycling team, Jock Boyer, with who he discussed the future of cycling in Rwanda and how the sport can be elevated to another level through concrete ways of fundraising and talent searching.