President Paul Kagame has challenged Rwandans to rethink how the country engages with the rest of the world, urging a shift from aid-dependency to building partnerships based on mutual contribution.

Kagame said this on July 17, while chairing the RPF-Inkotanyi Bureau Politique meeting at the party headquarters in Rusororo.

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"When you choose to work with others, you must first understand what you will bring to the table. What can you contribute so that, together with what the other person contributes, both of you benefit from the partnership?" he said.

"One of the major challenges rooted in our history, and in Africa&039;s history more broadly, is that we have often behaved as though we have nothing to put on the table to share with others. We have always expected others to bring something to the table while we simply join them. That has been a political mindset for a very long time."

He argued that countries seeking partnerships should approach them as contributors rather than beneficiaries.

The President cautioned against relying on external assistance as the foundation for development.

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"Every country, even a small country like ours, has something of value. Every nation and every people possess something they can contribute.

"Instead of developing those strengths and using them to move your country forward. If you simply wait for someone else to come, use them, and then give you the assistance you need, you have reduced yourself to nothing."

"Do not diminish yourselves. Do not reduce yourselves to nothing," he added.

While acknowledging that development partners continue to support countries in need, Kagame stressed that lasting progress depends on domestic effort.

Kagame said Rwanda's history demonstrates the importance of self-belief and self-reliance, urging RPF members to draw lessons from the country's past as they shape its future.

"That is why we must continue to look back at where we have come from, because those lessons should guide how we engage with others, whether in our region or with the wider world."