President Paul Kagame has said that good governance has a role and responsibility to ensure that young Africans have a real stake in a bright future on their continent.

Kagame was speaking in Dubai, United Arab Emirates while delivering a key note address at the seventh World Government Summit.

The annual summit is dedicated to shaping the future of governments worldwide with a focus on how they can harness innovation and technology to solve universal challenges facing humanity.

The head of state said that governance must primarily focus on equipping the youth with the requisite skills to compete and succeed globally.

Delegates at the ongoing World Government Summit in Dubai yesterday. Village Urugwiro.

“We want young Rwandans and their peers across Africa to remain connected to their countries and each other. We have a responsibility to ensure that young Africans have a real stake in a bright future on their own continent. It is our responsibility to equip them with the skills to compete and succeed globally. This should be our primary focus and it is doable,” he said.

The President said that this was among the reasons Africa was keen on participatory integration to have greater economic relevance.

Participating in bigger markets is vital for our economic future. By 2050, Africa’s population will be two and a half billion, larger than any other continent. We will only realise our full promise by joining together our historically fragmented markets and making it easier for people, goods and services to move across our continent,” Kagame said.

This, he said, was part of the reasons why the African Union had adopted the African Continental Free Trade Area – which is due to enter into force later this year as well as the Protocol on the Free Movement of People and agreed a Single African Air Transport Market.