Kagame to African Leaders: ‘Stop outsourcing Africa’s future, security’

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has issued a powerful call to action, urging African nations to take full control of their future and security, as the continent’s first-ever International Security Conference on Africa (ISCA) held its inaugural session in Kigali from May 19 to 20.

Speaking at the official opening of the high-level gathering, President Kagame criticized decades of external dependence on matters critical to the continent’s peace and stability.

He emphasized the need for African-led solutions to Africa’s growing and complex security challenges.

“This forum is not only timely, it is also long overdue,” Kagame said. “Africa’s future, particularly matters of peace and security, cannot be outsourced. For far too long, our security has been treated as a burden to be managed by others, with minimal input from us and often without the benefit of our context or indeed our consent. This approach has failed.”

The inaugural ISCA conference, convened in Rwanda’s capital, attracted military commanders, security experts, policymakers, scholars, and diplomats from across Africa and beyond.

READ ALSO: Nigerian Start-up wins $10,000 at Commonwealth Youth Forum in Kigali CHOGM

Moussa Faki, former Chairperson of the African Union Commission and now Chairman of the ISCA Advisory Council, delivered the keynote as Guest Speaker.

The International Security Conference on Africa is a newly established international organization headquartered in Kigali. Its mission is to foster dialogue, research, and policy innovation around pressing security threats on the continent. These include terrorism, cybersecurity, ethnic marginalization, inter- and intra-state conflicts, the presence of foreign military bases, the rise of private military contractors, and the exploitation of Africa’s vast reserves of critical raw materials.

The ISCA platform aims to provide a structured environment where African voices lead and shape the narrative on security issues affecting the continent’s development trajectory.