Kagame was speaking in an interview with American Author, Ian Bremmer in Germany on the sidelines of last month’s Munich Security Conference.
The interview took place after Kagame had met US President Donald Trump in the sidelines of World Economic Forum that took place in Davos, Switzerland in January.
Asked whether he asked Trump about his comment about Shithole remarks he made referring to African countries and some Asian countries, Kagame replied saying that he did it in a ‘civil way’.
“In a way that is more civil than people would have expected. We naturally had to talk about that, but also the background that it is as if no one is sure what was even said, because people including himself said no; it was either misrepresented or actually they didn’t hear it, others heard it. I didn’t find it correct that I would dwell on such. And as you said, Trump being President of the United States I’m more interested in how Africa and the United States can work together,” he said.
Asked whether he came away with anything specific, he said that after the discussions, Trump wrote a letter to the African Union expressing how he wants to work with Africa and African leaders.
“And even he mentioned my meeting with him in Davos, which message for me was important enough that he was reacting out and saying, I mean to work well with Africa and serious about it. I thought for me that is the most important thing,” he added.
{{Recent transitions in Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and South Africa
}}
Last year, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe resigned from his office and the World was surprised with peaceful transition.
Last month a consecutive transition took place in South Africa, where former President Jacob Zuma resigned from office and the same scenario in Ethiopia where Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned.
Kagame said that Africa is more and more integrated in the rest of the World.
Stressing on the case of Ethiopia that is economically stable since Desalegn took office six years ago, Kagame said that what matters is aspirations of people.
“This connectedness really informs people and drives people to do things we want to do and raises the level of aspiration and there is a thing that happens in one way or another that correction is made so that the demands and aspirations of these people are met,” he said.
He said that Ethiopia remains a good performer in terms of development that have taken place and in the growth of the economy.
He said that it’s okay if Desalegn resignation was for opening up more integration for different actors acting in different interests for the people of Ethiopia.

Leave a Reply