The Head of State was speaking Thursday at the opening of a two-day African Leadership Forum (ALF) taking place in Kigali.
The forum taking place under the theme ‘Financing Africa’s Transformation for Sustainable Development’ was attended by different former African Heads of States.
Kagame said that there is no doubt that Africa can finance a big part of its own development, as it has always financed other’s development.
“The value of illicit financial flows, evaded taxes, and commodity extraction greatly exceeds that of foreign aid, as a matter of fact. But we have to take responsibility for the misallocation of Africa’s resources and take steps to correct that,” he said.
“I would rather argue, that we need to mobilise the right mindsets, rather than more funding,” he noted.
He said that Africa has everything it needs, in real terms, but Africans remain mentally married to the idea that nothing can get moving, without external finance.
“We are even begging for things we already have. That is absolutely a failure of mindset,” he added.
According to Kagame, through accountability, Africa can change through domestic tax collection and building the trust that public funds will be spent on the right things.
He said that through regional integration and working together across the continent, Africa can change the records.
Kagame said that another way to reach a turning point is to continue making it easier for African businesses to grow and create jobs for young people.
“This is about changing the mindset of our youth from one of dependence and ‘poverty reduction’, to one of prosperity and wealth creation,” he added.
As for its 7th edition, the forum was organized by the office of former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa and the institute that supports African leaders to attain sustainable development for their nation and for Africa known as UONGOZI Institute.
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