‘We Are Not Africa’s Children, We Are Its Parents,’ Kagoro Tells Africans

KIGALI, Rwanda — Zimbabwean pan-Africanist and constitutional lawyer Brian Kagoro has challenged Africans to abandon a mindset of waiting for a better continent to emerge and instead take responsibility for creating the Africa they want.

Speaking at the inaugural Africa Mindset Reset Forum held in Kigali, Rwanda,recently,Kagoro delivered a powerful message on African identity, responsibility and the need for a fundamental shift in how the continent approaches its future.

Kagoro told delegates that Africans should not regard themselves as children waiting for an Africa they desire to be handed down to them, because the continent they want to inherit has not yet been created.

“We are not Africa’s children, we are Africa’s parents, because the Africa we want has not yet been born,” Kagoro said.

His intervention struck at the heart of the forum's central argument that Africa's transformation requires more than new policies and institutions. It requires a change in the mindset of Africans themselves.

The two-day forum, convened by the African School of Governance (ASG), brought together African political leaders, academics, businesspeople, civil society actors and young emerging leaders to debate the continent's future under the theme “From Pan-Africanism to Meta-Africanism.”

Kagoro's message was particularly directed at the younger generation, urging them to see themselves not merely as inheritors of Africa's problems but as the generation responsible for solving them.

The Pan-Africanist  argued that the responsibility for Africa's future cannot continually be transferred to political leaders, previous generations or external actors. Instead, Africans must recognise their collective agency and begin building the institutions, businesses, technologies and societies they want to see.

The message dovetailed with another phrase attributed to Kagoro during the forum: “We are, therefore I am,” a reinterpretation of the Ubuntu philosophy which places collective African identity and responsibility ahead of individual interests.

The argument reflects the broader philosophy behind the forum's push from Pan-Africanism to what organisers described as Meta-Africanism ,a concept that seeks to build on the historic ideals of African unity and liberation while focusing more heavily on practical integration, innovation, economic cooperation and continental self-reliance.

Rather than simply asking why Africa remains underdeveloped, the forum sought to challenge Africans to ask what they can do differently to change the continent's trajectory.

Kagoro also joined discussions on making African markets work across borders, where the conversation focused on the movement of goods, people and capital across the continent.

 He also pointed to data and ideas as forms of infrastructure, with mobile money platforms such as M-PESA illustrating how African innovation can create solutions suited to African realities.

His remarks come at a time when African countries are seeking to deepen intra-African trade and turn the continent's large population and natural resources into greater economic value.

The forum brought together about 1,000 participants, with young and emerging leaders making up a significant proportion of attendees. Organisers framed the gathering as an effort to move beyond conferences that merely diagnose Africa's problems towards conversations capable of producing action.