President Kagame(second from left) participated in an intergenerational dialogue on taking Africa forward
Today at the Kigali Convention Centre, President Kagame joins Prime Minister Samuel Ntsokoane Matekane of the Kingdom of Lesotho, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Africa, Ahunna Eziakonwa, over 20 African Ministers of Youth, thousands of youth entrepreneurs, leaders, innovators, artists and students from across the continent for the 7th edition of Youth Connekt Africa Summit held under the theme “Jobs for Youth Through Innovative Skilling”.
After the opening ceremony, President Kagame alongside Prime Minister Samuel Ntsokoane Matekane and Mumbi Ndung’u, Founder and Chief Changemaker of Power Learn Project, participated in an intergenerational dialogue on taking Africa forward.
“We grew up experiencing things that taught us many lessons, things that you don’t learn in school but you learn in life. I asked my father when I was twelve, who I lost when I was fifteen, “What did we do? Why are we here?” We were in a refugee camp, being fed with weekly rations. My father told a long story, but it was clear that it was politics, the leaders. It was a convergence of colonial times and the times of independence. Everything was just what it should not have been. Those are the lessons we learned. But it is disheartening that what I am talking about then, so many years ago in the sixties, some of that is still happening even now. You have people, especially young people, who are still suffering because of politics and all kinds of bad governance. What I experienced when I was four years old, why should it be happening now anywhere? Why should it happen anywhere on our continent?”, President Kagame said in his remarks.
YouthConnekt Africa is a continental initiative aimed at accelerating the implementation of Agenda 2063 by connecting African youth for socio-economic transformation. It has been adopted and implemented by 33 African Member States.
YouthConnekt Africa operates as a platform to address critical development challenges by fostering ecosystem-building, knowledge-sharing, and continental collaboration.
Over the years, it has evolved into one of Africa’s largest conveners of youth-focused policy discussions and business initiatives.(End)