President Paul Kagame has called for a shift in how investors assess opportunities in developing countries, saying the perception that markets in the Global South are riskier than those in developed economies needs to change.
He was speaking during a high-level panel at the 28th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in St John’s, the capital of Antigua and Barbuda, on Monday, November 2.
"There is a perception out there that the developing countries, for example, that part of the world that a number of our countries belong to, in making these investments there are higher risks for the investments in the South than in the North. And this has continued to play out for a long time," Kagame said.
Kagame said countries should instead focus on strengthening cooperation and pooling resources to mitigate investment risks, particularly in projects with strong commercial potential.
"Risks will be there, but they will be everywhere, so we have to make sure that risks are understood to be cutting across the globe, not just in the perception of the North versus the South. I think the Commonwealth can be helpful in this."