He said Africa exports unprocessed agricultural produce and imports processed products at a much higher price.
Kagame made the remarks Saturday in Kigali at the 8th African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) 2018.
“We transport our coffee and tea to Europe. You give it some blessing, then send it back to us and we pay ten times more,” he says, seemingly pointing at the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in attendance.
“We have been shipping value for free and we pay heavily. It just doesn’t make sense and we all know it. How can we blame anybody else for some of these shortcomings, how can we blame anybody else for Rwanda importing coffee from Europe when we produce coffee but we don’t process it?”
In attendance was also Ghanaian President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Kenyan Vice President William Ruto and Gabonese Prime Minister Emmanuel Issoze-Ngondet, among other dignitaries.
One example cited is that chocolate sales stood at $100 billion in 2016 but major African cocoa producers, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, together recorded 5% of the earnings yet they exported 65% of all the cocoa used to produce chocolate worldwide.
Kagame said that the knowledge, experience and goodwill in evidence at AGRF show that Africa has everything it needs to succeed.
“It is up to us working together to drive the necessary change in our respective communities and organisations… Between Kenya, Ghana, Gabon, our minds on this panel are very well aligned. The main task for us is to make sure that what we are aligned on, is actually put into practice.”
Remarking that the majority of Africans still earn their livelihood directly or indirectly from the land, Kagame said that agriculture deserves the concentrated attention of Africa’s policy-makers, scientists and entrepreneurs.
William Ruto said that African countries must come together and ensure they stop exporting unprocessed goods.
He said Africa should only import tractors and other equipments but export the processed agricultural produces.
President Akufo-Addo said Africa has to address its problems without expecting anyone from outside to do it.
The officials observed that trade among African countries is harder that importing food items from Europe.
They reiterated the importance of the recently signed Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in addressing the challenges.
AfCFTA was signed by 44 countries in Kigali in March 2018 at the 10th Extra-Ordinary African Union Summit of Heads of State and Governments.
The number of signatories has so far reached 50 countries in the process to set the trade area operational.
AfCFTA is expected to create a common African market for over 1.2 billion African population and improve trade among the continent’s countries.
African countries trade among themselves at the rate of 16% while the rate stands at 60% between Africa and Europe.
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