President Paul Kagame of Rwanda urged world leaders to lend their support to global firms venturing into Africa as their sense of innovation in responding to Africa’s needs can play a huge role in bringing about development of Africa.
The President who also doubles as the Chairperson of the African Union stated this recently during the G20 Investment Summit – a meeting of German businesses and the Compact with Africa (CwA) member countries.
Kagame commended Volkswagen for its “Moving Rwanda” venture, an innovative project that has seen Volkswagen establish a car assembling plant in Rwanda.
Aside Rwanda, Volkswagen also has plants in countries like South Africa and Kenya.
“The best way to speed up business climate reform is to attract more global firms to Africa. This produces a demonstration effect, which in turn generates even more productive investment.
Africa can be a global innovation laboratory. East Africa is a young market for new car sales. But we have a great need for mobility solutions, which raise the productivity of the wider regional economy. Volkswagen is not only assembling vehicles in Rwanda, it is pioneering next-generation business models for shared, environmentally-friendly transport”.
The event was held under the patronage of Dr Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. During the event, German investors presented their flagship projects currently underway in the CwA countries.
CwA is an initiative of the G20 and was set up under the German G20 Presidency to promote investment in Africa.