He made the remarks on May 14, 2026, while officially opening the Africa CEO Forum, an international gathering of top business leaders currently taking place in Kigali.

The forum brought together six Heads of State, government officials, leaders from both public and private institutions, international organizations, and investors from across the world.

In his speech, President Kagame noted that Africa has endured numerous hardships throughout history, including slavery, colonialism, wars, and epidemics. However, he stressed that such experiences should not keep the continent trapped in underdevelopment, but instead serve as lessons that Africa can build upon to achieve sustainable progress.

“There will always be challenges. We have gone through centuries of many things; slavery, colonialism, wars, epidemics, and all those things will continue to exist. But we cannot remain stuck there. We should learn from them by expanding what we are doing for ourselves and allowing our actions to guide us in overcoming such issues,” Kagame said.

President Kagame further emphasized that Africa possesses vast natural resources that should enable the continent to become more self-reliant and competitive globally, although much still needs to be done to fully capitalize on those resources.

He pointed out that Africa holds enormous potential in renewable energy and in the minerals required for battery production and modern technologies.

“When you look back, you see how much Africa has missed despite having everything. Africa possesses 60% of the world’s solar energy potential, and it also has the minerals needed for manufacturing batteries and supporting modern technological industries,” he stated.

President Kagame also reiterated that one of the major reasons Africa has not yet achieved the level of development it desires is the failure to fully utilize the opportunities available to it.

In his message, he said: “I think we have lost much more simply because we did not do what we were supposed to do.”

He also called on African nations to make effective use of their advantages in order to withstand economic instability and the growing global challenges affecting the world economy.