Kigali, 28 May 2011

President Kagame today received in his office a delegation of Young Presidents Organization SADC Chapter, who paid him a courtesy call. The delegation is in the country to establish a stronger connection with peers and bring them on board the global YPO network.

Speaking after meeting the President,

 

John Gara, the CEO of the Rwanda Development Board said: “The delegation had a very insightful meeting with the President where they were very keen to know where Rwanda has reached in terms of development and they were quite impressed by what they have seen. They asked the President many questions and were able to learn a lot from him. He told them about the spirit of Rwanda and how Rwandans are guided by the urge to live a dignified life”.

The Young Presidents Organization (YPO) is a global network of Young Chief Executives. It has approximately 17,000 members in more than 100 countries. YPO and its graduate organization, WPO (World President’s Organization) share a founding mission: better leaders through education and ideas exchange. In aggregate, the companies run by YPO and WPO members employ more than 15 million people and generate US$5.4 trillion in annual revenues.

Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) was founded in 1950 in New York City by a manufacturer Ray Hickok, who was 27 years old at the time of taking over his family’s 300-employee company. Hickok and a small group of young Presidents in the area began meeting regularly to share and learn from each other.The basic requirement to joining YPO is to be a leader of an 8 million dollar turnover business and to be below the age of 45 years.

They are in the country to Solicit Rwandan companies to join YPO, Look out for ways in which the Young Presidents’ Organization can connect Rwanda (Business Networks) to the rest of the world through shared interests and passions and discussing issues regarding trade and investments in Rwanda, With the YPO and WPO having established a graduate center, this provides an opportunity to Rwandans to connect with other YPO graduates from around the world for a lifelong leadership experience. The group will also tour Rwandan tourist spots with their spouses

The YPO delegation, on May 27 met with over 20 leading Rwandan business men and women, RDB officials, Rwanda’s Ambassador-designate to South Africa and the Honorable Minister of Finance and Economic Planning