🇷🇼 Kagame on Liberation Day: Time for Africa to Trust Itself and Lead Its Own Future
By: Rwanda Insight News | July 4, 2025 | Kigalihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g84NM1xhMCU&t=52s
As Rwanda marked 31 years since liberation, President Paul Kagame used the occasion not only to honor the country’s hard-won freedom but also to call for a deeper transformation across the African continent—one rooted in self-belief, strategic independence, and the rejection of dependency thinking.
In his Liberation Day address and a subsequent conversation with local and international media, Kagame reiterated a theme he has consistently championed: Africa must stop outsourcing its destiny.
“It’s frustrating,” Kagame said, “that Africa has almost everything: the people and the resources. Yet we remain stuck in systems that don’t serve us, talking every year but rarely changing course.”
🔍 The Challenge of African Self-Confidence
Kagame candidly addressed what he described as a gap between African rhetoric and action—a situation where grand speeches at summits and conferences fail to translate into real change.
“There is a need for that confidence – we often talk about it. In many ways, there is a lack of it across our continent,” he noted.
He went further, warning that much of what looks like confidence on the surface is often “false confidence”, used to mask a deep fear of breaking away from the norms and systems imposed by outside powers—especially former colonial rulers and international gatekeepers.
🔄 Learning from the Asian Tigers
Kagame drew clear comparisons between Africa’s stagnant trajectory and the explosive growth of countries like Singapore and Malaysia, which, he reminded, were once poorer than many African states.
“Those Asian countries endured pressure. They rallied. They prevailed,” he said. “So why can’t Africa?”
Rwanda itself has followed a path inspired by the Singaporean model—emphasizing discipline, results, and forward-thinking governance. Singapore’s urban development firm Surbana Jurong helped design Kigali’s modern masterplan. This, Kagame believes, is proof that non-Western, locally adapted solutions can transform African cities and economies.
🧠Leadership That Defies the Narrative
But choosing to forge an independent path comes at a cost. Kagame noted that African leaders who refuse to conform to external expectations are often demonized or misrepresented—regardless of how their people perceive them.
“It doesn’t matter what your people think. No, it’s about some referee somewhere deciding that we don’t satisfy them,” Kagame said, alluding to Western powers who have criticized Rwanda’s internal reforms post-genocide.
He stressed that transformation must come from within and that Africa must stop being paralyzed by the fear of offending international actors or by the threat of sanctions and mischaracterization.
🌍 A Call to the Continent
While Rwanda has made undeniable progress—rebuilt from the ashes of genocide into a regional hub for tech, tourism, and governance—Kagame is adamant that true liberation is continental, not just national.
“Some get beaten up and left screaming… begging. We put ourselves there – we shouldn’t do that. And yet we know we can overcome this,” Kagame lamented.
With 70% of Africa’s population under the age of 30, Kagame believes that a new generation can rewrite the continent’s story. But it will take sacrifice, courage, and the abandonment of colonial blueprints that never fit Africa to begin with.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhuHgCistZg&list=PL2Kl9zQRHD6K99m3ej2bEyXhoOMIYDYts&index=2
🇷🇼 Rwanda’s Message to Africa: Be Bold. Be Independent. Believe.
As Rwanda celebrates 31 years since the guns fell silent and the country began its reconstruction, Kagame’s Liberation Day message echoes far beyond Kigali:
Africa must stop waiting for permission to succeed. The future will not be given—it must be claimed.
