Senate President François-Xavier Kalinda has called on African youth to take full advantage of the growing regional trade opportunities across the continent, urging them to break free from colonial-era thinking and take ownership of Africa’s future. He made the remarks during a joint session of the Rwandan Parliament held on May 23 in Kigali.
Kalinda emphasized that young Africans must shift their mindset and begin to see Africa as a unified space, rather than as fragmented territories defined by colonial borders. “We’ve spent too long copying others. It’s high time we stopped seeing ourselves through colonial borders and started building confidently on the strong foundation, especially those Rwanda has laid,” he said.
The session, focused on Pan-Africanism, brought together lawmakers and regional leaders to discuss how Africa’s integration agenda can help young people, particularly entrepreneurs with small capital. Alodie Iradukunda, a Rwandan member of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), supported Kalinda’s view, stressing that regional integration offers huge opportunities for youth.
She pointed out that the East African Community (EAC) has developed a simplified trade regime that benefits small-scale traders, particularly those operating with less than $2,000 in capital. According to her, this initiative helps reduce customs barriers and encourages cross-border business, especially among young people looking to build sustainable livelihoods through trade.
“This stimulates local economies, strengthens income security, and improves government revenue collection,” Iradukunda noted.
She also highlighted the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) as a key initiative under the African Union aimed at improving movement across African borders. SAATM is designed to reduce flight costs, increase access to air travel, and promote intra-African business and tourism. However, she raised concerns about how high airfare remains a major challenge for many young Africans.
“Despite the promise of liberalized airspace, intra-African flights remain expensive,” she said. “A one-way ticket from Kigali to Nairobi ranges from $300 to $600, while a trip to Dubai may cost only $200 to $300. In 2024, average ticket prices rose by 21 percent compared to 2019. This hinders youth mobility and access to opportunities across Africa.”
Iradukunda said solving such problems would require African countries to collaborate more deeply. She called on young people across the continent to unite in building shared digital infrastructure and pooling resources to take advantage of fast-growing sectors like technology and artificial intelligence.
“Artificial intelligence, for example, requires vast data,” she said. “Why should every country build its own data center? We must work together, share infrastructure and create a digitally connected Africa.”
She said the African Union’s Agenda 2063 serves as a strong foundation for achieving these goals. The Agenda outlines a vision for an integrated and prosperous continent with a single African passport, seamless movement of goods and people, increased intra-African trade through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and development anchored in good governance and African cultural pride.
“The second liberation of Africa, as defined in Agenda 2063, is about economic freedom and unity. It will not be handed to us. It must be built,” she added.
Deputy Speaker of Rwanda’s Chamber of Deputies, Mussa Fazil Harerimana, also spoke during the session. He said the goals of Agenda 2063 are closely aligned with Rwanda’s own Vision 2050 and pointed out that regional trade and a strong private sector are vital to national development.
“Promoting the private sector and facilitating trade across Africa directly supports Rwanda’s strategic goals. We must be active participants, not bystanders, in shaping Africa’s future,” Harerimana said.
With Africa’s population expected to grow rapidly in the coming decades and a large portion of the population under 25 years old, speakers at the event agreed that youth have a central role to play in driving the continent’s progress. They encouraged young people to take initiative, think big, and work together beyond borders to create an Africa that can compete globally.
