Africa must take charge of its own challenges â€“Kagame #rwanda #RwOT

Speaking in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on February 14, 2025, during the 38th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU), President Kagame stressed the need for African nations to take decisive action.

As the AU's champion for advocating self-sufficiency in healthcare, President Kagame led a high-level meeting focused on mobilizing resources to strengthen Africa's health systems.

The meeting was organized by the AU Commission, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), and AUDA-NEPAD, with discussions centered on healthcare innovation, private sector engagement, and philanthropic initiatives.

Kagame acknowledged that while Africa faces numerous challenges, it also has significant opportunities to address them. He highlighted the changing nature of global healthcare funding and urged African nations to invest more of their own resources in the sector while ensuring accountability in expenditure.

'We should not be intimidated by these challenges. The responsibility of building our continent, including strengthening our healthcare systems, lies with us. No one else will do it for us. This calls for us to take ownership of our problems and find ways to solve them,' Kagame stated.

Africa is rich in natural resources and has the potential for self-sufficiency in many areas, yet it struggles to fully harness these resources. For instance, the continent requires $1 billion worth of vaccines annually but currently produces only 0.2% of that amount.

President Kagame sharing a light moment with other leaders.

This has been a long-standing concern for President Kagame, who has consistently advocated for change.
In June 2024, during the launch of the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA) in Paris, he reiterated the need for Africa to take control of its vaccine production.

He noted that while the COVID-19 pandemic had ended, efforts to establish local vaccine manufacturing should not slow down.

'The COVID-19 pandemic claimed millions of lives and further exposed global inequalities, including in healthcare. No country was spared from the virus's impact, yet access to vaccines and medical supplies was deeply unequal and challenging,' he said.

The Head of State emphasized that this inequality was a wake-up call for Africa to establish its own vaccine production capabilities as a long-term solution.