Paul Kagame

Well done to #VisitRwanda partner @Arsenal for qualifying for the UEFA Champions League semi-finals tonight! Look forward to cheering you on during the next stage!

Proud to see three #VisitRwanda partners qualifying for the UEFA Champions League semi-finals! The performances of @Atleti, @Arsenal and @PSG_inside have shown consistency, excellence and resolve, and we look forward to the games ahead!

Congratulations as well to #VisitRwanda’s newest football partner Atlético de Madrid @Atleti on an impressive win and qualification for the UEFA semi-finals! Wishing you continued success!

Warm congratulations to #VisitRwanda partner Paris Saint-Germain @PSG_inside on securing qualification to the UEFA semi-finals. Strong performance and a well-deserved result! Wishing you the best in the next stage!

Held a call this afternoon with my brother, President @IsmailOguelleh, during which I extended my congratulations on his re-election as President of Djibouti. I look forward to continuing to deepen the strong, longstanding ties between the people of Djibouti and Rwanda, and to working closely together to advance our shared priorities for growth and prosperity.

#EidMubarak to Muslims in Rwanda and around the world on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr. May this celebration bring peace, hope, and blessings to every home, every country and region, and serve as a reminder of the importance of generosity, unity, and shared humanity.

Mes chaleureuses félicitations à mon frère, le Président Denis Sassou Nguesso @SassouNGuesso_, pour sa réélection à la tête de la République du Congo. Le Rwanda se réjouit de la qualité de nos relations bilatérales et de la poursuite d’une coopération étroite, au service de nos priorités communes et de la prospérité de nos peuples.

Happy International Women’s Day! Today and every day, we celebrate the foundational role women continue to play in Rwanda’s transformation. Your resilience, ingenuity and leadership continue to affirm a simple truth: a nation can only truly progress when inclusion and equality are upheld in every sphere. #IWD2026

Warm congratulations to my sister, Prime Minister @miaamormottley, on her well-deserved re-election. Rwanda values the strong friendship between our two countries, grounded in shared principles of self-determination, resilience, and commitment to delivering prosperity and dignity for our people. We look forward to further deepening our cooperation in the years ahead. I wish you and the people of Barbados continued success and progress.

Warm congratulations to the Lions de la Teranga on their well-deserved #AFCON victory, a proud achievement that reflects perseverance, unity, and excellence. I also commend Morocco for their strong performances throughout this well-organized tournament and thank them for their warm hospitality.

Congratulations President @KagutaMuseveni on your re-election as President of the Republic of Uganda. I extend my best wishes to you and the people of Uganda as you continue to serve your nation for the prosperity of your people. I look forward to the continued strong and productive cooperation between our two countries.

Congratulations to my brother, President Mamadi Doumbouya @presi_doumbouya, on his election as President of the Republic of Guinea. We look forward to deepening our strong bilateral relations and working closely together to advance our shared priorities and the prosperity of our nations.

#Arsenal did us all proud. Congrats.

I thank my brother and friend, His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, @TamimBinHamad for his visit to Rwanda and for the productive discussions we held. Rwanda deeply appreciates the strong partnership with the State of Qatar and the personal friendship that continues to guide our cooperation. We look forward to building on the progress made during this visit and advancing the shared priorities for the mutual benefit of our nations and people.

@LonzenRugira I think you argued this quite well Lonzin...!?

What’s holding Africans back? President Kagame asked. Prof. Murigande told Kagame that the main reason is that African leaders don’t care about their people. They seek to enrich themselves — to eat, and to eat alone. The president agreed with him, but he pressed further, asking why this problem seems peculiar to Africa. Kagame doesn’t ask rhetorical questions. He has identified a problem and is involving Rwandans in finding a solution. Here’s my take: To overcome challenges like those faced by postcolonial societies, a people must rediscover a sense of collective self-worth. Usually, this comes from the memory of their past achievements— who they were as a people informs who they are and who they aspire to be. While Africa was not the only region to experience colonization, it is one of the few where colonialism either erased the memory of past greatness or created new countries with no shared memory of such greatness. Colonisation captured African minds. In that sense, although Africa was colonised last, it was colonised the worst. Colonial education deepened this alienation, distorting African aspirations, turning them from collective to individual. In the 1950s, the small group of “educated” African elites aspired to join the white world : the colonial administration. Today, with colonial education still intact and keeping African minds in chains, the elites it creates do not aspire to uplift their people; they aspire to join the global elite. They don’t seek to improve their own societies; they seek to escape from them. Accordingly, these elites measure their self-worth by: •how fluently they speak foreign languages, •which foreign schools they send their children to, •which foreign hospitals they can afford, •how many houses they build, and how much money they invest abroad. At the heart of this lies a quiet acceptance that Africans are somehow defective as a people, and that the only way to succeed is individually. Even those who once believed they could change things often abandon the quest for collective improvement once they grasp the scale of the effort it demands. The kind of heavy lifting required for real transformation breeds a sense of hopelessness, one that pushes people from collective ambition toward individual greed. So, the individual’s aspiration becomes to join the global bourgeoisie. But these are strategies of self-evacuation. They are attempts to flee backwardness by moving from the rural village to the capital, then on to the enlightened colonial metropolis, and ultimately to disappear into cosmopolitan anonymity - a form of self erasure rather than a search for self restoration. This journey became the measure of progress. Those who remain in Africa do so with one foot already out (through dual citizenship or close connections to the representatives of their desired metropoles) for themselves, and especially for their children. Although Kagame brings up this topic, it has been a theme he turns to whenever he notices that some ethic is creeping in amongst the leaders, only that this time he is more specific. For example, while he has been teaching agaciro as a form of mental decolonization, most people over the years understood agaciro merely as a material pursuit. Yet agaciro is, at its core, about retracing and reclaiming the memory of self-worth and therefore the basis for collective pursuit.

To the many friends , Leaders and many well wishers I have not had opportunity to know personally I want to express my deep appreciation for your very warm Birth Day Wishes. Bless!