Chasing the degree, the career, the business and the bank balance is the default script for many young people today. Rwandan President Paul Kagame used a youth engagement event at BK Arena in Kigali on October 21, 2026 to pitch an addition to it: look after your health.
According to reports of the event, he urged young Rwandans to make their well-being a priority alongside their personal, academic and professional goals. His emphasis was on building healthy habits from childhood, not waiting until adulthood.
Ambition Has a Cost
Many young people feel pushed to succeed on every front at once. Under that pressure, health is often the first thing to slip. Long hours, too little sleep, poor eating and constant stress can wear a person down once they become routine. Kagame’s message was a reminder that success bought at the expense of your health isn’t much of a bargain.
The takeaway is less “slow down” than “don’t treat health as a reward for later.” Rest, exercise and mental well-being work best as part of the daily routine.
His focus on childhood was the sharpest part of the message. The routines people form early tend to follow them into adult life. Balanced meals, regular activity, enough sleep, good hygiene and attention to emotional well-being are far easier to build as a child than to retrofit under adult pressure.
That responsibility doesn’t rest on children alone. Parents, schools and communities shape the environment. Access to sports and recreation, nutrition education, and safe spaces to talk about emotional difficulties all make healthy choices easier to act on.
What’s at Stake for Rwanda
Young people are central to Rwanda’s development ambitions, through their education, creativity, skills and enterprise. But all of that depends on their being well enough to deliver it. Students need energy to learn. Young professionals must sustain themselves through demanding workplaces. Entrepreneurs face the pressure of building businesses, managing money and competing in the market.
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For all of them, health is part of the foundation for long-term productivity, not a distraction from it.
In many societies, success is measured in wealth, qualifications, recognition and status. Personal well-being rarely makes the list. Kagame’s message pushes back on that, suggesting ambition and health aren’t rivals. Young people can chase big goals and still make time for rest, exercise, good food and emotional care.
That takes discipline, planning and a willingness to recognise personal limits. It also means accepting that achievements are worth more when you’re still well enough to enjoy and build on them.
Kagame’s message to young people at BK Arena was simple: ambition and health should travel together. For those aiming at leadership, business or professional excellence, good habits are part of the preparation, and the earlier they start, the better.