Macron seeks new “partnership” with Africa at summit in Kenya

[RFI] Nairobi - France came to Nairobi last week with a message it has been trying to land for years: that it wants to be Africa's partner, not its patron. At the Africa Forward summit in May, Emmanuel Macron made that case again. Not everyone was convinced.

France has committed €23 billion (US$26.7 billion) to Africa’s private sector in a bid to counter Chinese dominance and rebuild its influence on the continent. Speaking at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi earlier this month, President Emmanuel Macron pitched the investment as a “jolt” to reset relations, positioning Europe as a partner for Africa’s “strategic autonomy” as the geopolitical race with Beijing heats up. The move marks a major shift as Paris tries to win over anglophone countries...

At the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, French President Emmanuel Macron aimed to strengthen ties with English-speaking nations but faced backlash due to logistical failures and the absence of South Africa, raising questions about France's influence in Africa.

Speaking to France 24’s François Picard from the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, the Minister Delegate for Francophonie, International Partnerships, and French Citizens Abroad Éléonore Caroit presented the summit as evidence of a “renewed relationship” between France and African nations, one increasingly defined by private capital, educational cooperation, and strategic partnerships. Against the backdrop of 23 billion euros worth of investment commitments tied to the summit, "a bit more than half of that is French companies investing in the continent, and the rest is African companies investing also in the continent.” The symbolism mattered. African investment into Africa itself was positioned not as a footnote, but as evidence of a continent increasingly shaping its own economic future. Yet the interview also revealed the anxieties underlying France’s repositioning. Confronted with China’s expanding footprint in Kenya and across the continent, the minister conceded that France could not compete solely on the financial scale: “It’s true, but it’s not only about the money.” Instead, Paris is attempting to redefine its comparative advantage around expertise, infrastructure, education, digital innovation, and linguistic ties.

The French president visited Kenya this week for a summit designed to build stronger ties with Anglophone African countries.

In Kenya, dozens of heads of states are gathered for the two-day Africa Forward summit, meant to platform the best of Africa and channel ressources to opportunity there. The summit is co-hosted with France and more than 23 billion euros of investment has already been pledged because of it. But it is also hosted in an English-speaking country for the first time, as France turns towards Anglophone Africa while its influence in former colonies dwindles. FRANCE 24's Tom Canetti tells us more.

At the Africa Forward summit in Kenya, French President Emmanuel Macorn is hoping to boost a new kind of partnership with African countries. France has long maintained a policy of economic, political and military sway over its former colonies dubbed Françafrique, which included keeping thousands of troops in the region. But after years of criticism from leaders and opposition parties in those countries over what they described as a demeaning and heavy-handed approach, France has been forced to withdraw most of those troops. FRANCE 24's Douglas Herbert looks at how Macron aims to do that, in the face of other big investors.

Ahead of the second day of the Africa Forward summit, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that it had raised 23 billion euros in investment on the continent. As France pitches a 'partnership of equals' with African countries, it aims to distance itself from its neocolonial past. This comes as it completes a military withdrawal from West African countries, which has been seen as a sign of its declining influence on the continent. FRANCE 24's Tom Canetti tells us more on what to expect from this second day from Nairobi.

Africa Forward summit comes amid France's fading ties with its former African colonies, as Kenya seeks greater trade.

Day two of the Africa Forward summit in Kenya brings together leaders and top officials from more than 30 countries from across the continent as President Emmanuel Macron pitches a new French model for partnerships with African nations. 

French president reaches out to new allies after setbacks in relations with his country’s former colonies in west AfricaA French-African summit held every few years since 1973 is taking place in a non-francophone country for the first time on Tuesday as Emmanuel Macron tries to rebuild France’s role on the continent after setbacks in its former colonies.More than 30 heads of state and government are meeting in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, for this year’s iteration of the summit. Named Africa Forward, it is being seen by analysts as an attempt by France to court new allies. Continue reading...

In tonight's edition, French President Emmanuel Macron urges investment in Africa as he co-hosts an economic summit in Kenya. Also, we take a closer look at the cost of some of the deeply rooted misperceptions and clichés about Africa still clinging on in societies. And Kenyan conservationists are working hard to boost the number of the critically endangered Bongo antelope. 

French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday announced €23 billion investment in Africa focused on energy transition, digital and AI, the maritime economy and agriculture. Macron was attending the two-day Africa Forward summit in Nairobi aimed at renewing France's engagement with the continent.

French President Emmanuel Macron ​and more than 30 African leaders kicked off a summit in Kenya on Monday aimed at diversifying Paris' partnerships on the continent and clinching new investment deals. The Africa Forward Summit is the first France has organised in an ​English-speaking nation ‌since it began holding such events in the 1970s and follows a series of ⁠setbacks in former colonies in West Africa that have moved to reduce French influence.

[New Dawn] Almost ten years after French President Emmanuel Macron's Ouagadougou speech, which laid the foundations for renewed relations between France and the countries of Africa, Kenya and France are co-organizing the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi on 11 and 12 May 2026.

French President Emmanuel Macron ​and more than 30 African leaders kicked off a summit in Kenya on Monday aimed at diversifying Paris' partnerships on the continent and clinching new investment deals. During a state visit on ​Sunday, Macron announced that French shipping group CMA CGM planned to invest 700 million ‌euros to modernise a terminal at the Kenyan port of Mombasa. FRANCE 24's Tom Canetti reports from Nairobi, Kenya.

When the foreign ministers of France and Kenya open the “Africa Forward Summit: Africa-France Partnerships for Innovation and Growth” at the University of Nairobi on May 11, the focus will be on trying to find common ground. The two-day meeting in Kenya is the first summit of its kind that France is hosting in an English-speaking African country that is not among its traditional partners. There is a reason for this: According to analysts, President Emmanuel Macron wants to send a signal and initiate a shift away from France’s previous Africa policy in West Africa.  READ: Africa-Europe summit in Angola: Balancing China and the West […]...Keep on reading: Africa summit in Kenya: France seeks new partners

President Emmanuel Macron on Monday aims to promote France’s new approach to Africa at the inauguration of the Africa Forward Summit in Kenya, which is being held for the first time in an Anglophone country. The French president, is meeting 450 young people from across the continent and from France with high-impact projects are set to share their ideas for the future of the African continent. Watch FRANCE 24's live coverage of the event.

French President Emmanuel Macron began a visit to Kenya on Sunday ahead of the Africa Forward Summit, where he will promote France’s new approach to Africa based on partnership rather than influence. The gathering comes amid France’s military withdrawal from West Africa and renewed debate over its post-colonial role on the continent.

President Emmanuel Macron has chosen Kenya as the stage for a renewed French push to strengthen ties with Africa through business, diplomacy and culture. The Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi on Monday and Tuesday will bring together heads of state, executives and artists as France seeks to promote a partnership-based approach to the continent. FRANCE 24's Bastien Renouil reports.