Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Tuesday, August 25, urged a new generation of African leaders to exercise sound judgment when choosing the causes they decide to defend.

Speaking at the Africa Mindset Reset Forum, organised by the African School of Governance (ASG), Kagame stressed the importance of distinguishing between having the ability to act and having a reason to fight.

According to the Rwandan President, every struggle should be preceded by careful consideration of its legitimacy, its purpose and the price it may demand.

“You have to be selective,” he said, urging young people not to engage in confrontations simply because they have the strength or means to do so.

In his view, a cause is worth such a commitment only when it is just and important enough to justify the sacrifices it may require.

The message carries particular significance given Kagame’s own personal journey. Forced to leave Rwanda with his family amid violence and persecution in the early 1960s, he spent much of his childhood and early adulthood in exile in Uganda. The experience strengthened, among him and other Rwandan refugees, the conviction that a lasting future could not be built on permanent displacement.

In October 1990, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) launched an armed struggle aimed, among other objectives, at enabling refugees to return home and ending decades of exclusion. Kagame, who served as the movement’s military commander, played a central role in the four-year conflict, which ended in 1994 with the RPF’s victory, the end of the Genocide against the Tutsi and the return of many refugees.

He encouraged Africa’s young people to give their choices a broader social purpose and to consider their impact on future generations. Taking risks to change a situation, he noted, also creates a responsibility towards those who come after.

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki, another figure shaped by one of Africa’s historic struggles, offered a complementary perspective. Recalling his involvement in the African National Congress Youth League from the age of 13, he emphasised the importance of perseverance. When a cause is considered just, he said, one must remain committed to it and continue the struggle for “the Africa we want.”

The exchange took place during the inaugural Africa Mindset Reset Forum, which is bringing together about 2,500 participants in Kigali from the political, business, academic and civil society sectors.

Over two days, the forum is examining governance, institutions, economic integration and, above all, Africa’s ability to turn its ambitions and commitments into tangible results.

Co-founded by Kagame and former Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, the African School of Governance aims to help develop a new generation of African leaders capable of moving beyond simply identifying challenges and instead prioritising action, ethics and effective leadership.

Its latest cohort includes 238 participants from 22 African countries, reflecting the forum’s broader ambition to shape a new generation of leaders equipped to contribute to the continent’s transformation.