He made the revelation on Wednesday 29th September 2021 as he officially launched Rwanda- Zimbabwe Trade and Investment Conference.

The three-day conference bringing together investors from Zimbabwe and Rwanda is taking place at Kigali Convention Centre from Tuesday 28th to Thursday 30th September 2021.

It is aimed at sharing expertize and opportunities from both countries to explore new avenues of cooperation in different areas of development.

As he addressed close to 200 Rwandan and Zimbabwean senior officials and business leaders attending the conference, Kagame said that progress does not come at random highlighting that African countries, particularly Rwanda and Zimbabwe, need to cooperate and work hard.

“Progress does not come easily, or without sacrifice. It requires hard work, dedication, and self-reliance. But self-reliance does not mean being alone. No country on our continent can prosper without cooperating within our region. We have to come together, pool our resources and knowledge, and reinforce one another,” he said.

Kagame also said that Rwanda and Zimbabwe have investment opportunities and urged participants to take advantage of it and put into action deliberations of the conference relentlessly.

The Deputy CEO of Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Zephanie Niyonkuru said that that the conference started yielding on the first day with the signing of five Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) in the areas of Information and Communication Technology and E-Government, Agriculture and Livestock Development, Tourism and Business Events, Environment and Climate Change and another between the confederation of Zimbabwe Industries and Rwanda Private Sector Federation.

Apart from signed MoUs, Niyonkuru said that companies from Rwanda have explored investment opportunities in Zimbabwe and vice versa.

President Paul Kagame has said that self-reliance does not mean being alone.