It is my pleasure to welcome you to Kigali- P Kagame tells NEF participants

As he inaugurated to two days high level meeting of scientists and technological geeks being held in Kigali, President Paul Kagame welcomed them and wished them pleasant stay in Kigali. He congratulated the organizers, for the exceptionally high quality of the panels and discussions set on the agenda.

He said that participants will be learning a lot from the content of the agenda.

Rwanda is very happy to serve as host of this year’s Next Einstein Forum, as well as the headquarters of the African Institute for Mathematical Science, President Kagame said.

He called the global academia and political officials to strive for the removal of the gender gap in science and technology academic fields.

Whatever the causes may be, we have to dedicate ourselves to closing the gap, because opportunity will never be equal, without equal access to knowledge, President Kagame told his audience.

The Head of State Paul Kagame underlined the fact that filling people’s heads with information that will not be applied is futile.

‘It’s not just about filling heads with information, and performing well on exams. The purpose is to apply that knowledge, to solve the problems facing our continent and our world’ he said.

For that to change, there is an urgent need for a joint cooperation between government, education and business bodies.

President Kagame called upon the NEF participants to avoid going back to the same external suppliers for solutions, without making every effort to procure the services Africa needs.

For him that doesn’t make sense.

Let’s use the resources we have, to give these talented African specialists, the chance to grow and compete professionally, he advised his audience.

President Kagame said that Africa has what it takes to do so, not least because of the growing ranks of smart and creative young people, who are the foundation of Africa’s future.

He commended the partners and sponsors, who have made the event possible, to begin with Johnson and Johnson, and the Robert Bosch Foundation

President Kagame concluded wishing the NEF participants a successful event.

This international forum will gather 1000 scientific and technological experts from across the globe. Outstanding young scientist and technological geeks will be awarded as a means of boosting their research endeavors.

The ‘Next Einstein Forum’ is one the AIMS(African Institute of Mathematical Sciences) programs implemented with the partnership of the European based organization called ‘Robert Bosch Stiftung.

NEF Global Gatherings are exciting biennial global events where the world of science and technology meet on Africa soil to unveil breakthroughs in science, respond to existing challenges and look to the future. In this way, the NEF is unique.

The inaugural NEF Global Gathering 2016 had 1,258 participants from 79 countries. Over 60% were under 42 years of age and close to 40% were women.

UM– USEKE.RW