President Paul Kagame met former South African President Thabo Mbeki in Kigali on Aug. 26, with the two discussing the role of good governance in changing attitudes and advancing Africa’s development.
Mbeki was in Kigali to attend the two-day African conference on mindset change, which focused on approaches to transforming the continent and improving the lives of its people.
According to a statement from the Office of the President, Kagame and Mbeki discussed the objectives of the conference and the need for effective governance to support mindset change across Africa.
Speaking at the forum, Kagame said Africa had made progress in several areas despite the challenges it has faced over the years. He said the continent should also look critically at its own approach to development.
“Mindset change is something we must seriously reflect on ourselves,” Kagame said, noting that Africa had achieved progress in a number of areas despite its difficult history.
He said the continent has many of the resources needed to develop, including its people and natural wealth, as well as lessons from its history.
“It seems Africa has everything it needs to develop. It has people, resources and a history from which we should have learned many lessons,” Kagame said.
But he questioned whether Africans were doing enough to address their own problems, saying discussions about the continent often continued without sufficient focus on finding lasting solutions.
Kagame said Africans needed to change their behavior and approach if the continent was to achieve the progress it seeks.
The forum, held in Kigali on Aug. 25-26, brought together African leaders and other participants to discuss mindset change and ways of accelerating the continent’s development.
