Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame met with his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto on the sidelines of the African Development Bank (AfDB) taking place in Nairobi from 27–31 May 2024 in Nairobi.
“The two Heads of State discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral ties between Rwanda and Kenya”, according to the Rwandan State House.
President Kagame today participated in a Presidential Dialogue on, “Africa’s Transformation, the African Development Bank Group, and the Reform of the Global Financial Architecture” alongside the meeting’s host President William Ruto of Kenya and leaders from across the continent.
“Kenya and Rwanda have common positions on the need for the reform of the international financial architecture. We hold the view that developing countries should access international financing at the same interest rate as developed nations. We also advocate long tenure and scaled up financing to tackle the numerous challenges facing the continent and the rest of the Global South. Met President Paul Kagame of Rwanda at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, Nairobi, during the annual meetings of the African Development Bank and Africa Development Fund.”, President William Ruto said via tweet.
“There are enormous resources in this world, but inequitably distributed. How do we disrupt the current financial architecture as we have it, so that it includes significantly and visibly the interests of our continent? In a few decades, the only place in this world that will have a growing middle class is Africa. So it is even in the interest of the rest of the world that has marginalized Africa to contribute to the wellbeing of our continent. Because the growth of Africa, based on this middle-class, feeds into the growth of the rest of the world. But Africa cannot wait to be handed this opportunity by anybody else, we therefore must be on the frontline, fighting for this right, for ourselves but also which contributes to the wellbeing of the rest of the world.” President Kagame said in his remarks.
The theme of the 2024 Annual Meetings is “Africa’s Transformation, the African Development Bank Group, and the Reform of the Global Financial Architecture.” (End)