Macron Heads to Kenya to Push New France-Africa Partnership
The summit will bring together about 2,000 delegates and 30 African leaders as France seeks new investment ties and a break from its old Africa policy.
- Starting Monday, Nairobi will host the two-day Africa Forward Summit: Africa-France Partnerships for Innovation and Growth, bringing together French President Emmanuel Macron and 30 African heads of state.
- France's strategic pivot follows repeated setbacks across Francophone West Africa, where military governments in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger expelled French troops amid intensifying anti-French sentiment.
- Seeking to re-establish influence, Paris deepened ties with Anglophone countries, signing a five-year defense pact with Kenya in 2025 and a €300 million infrastructure agreement with Nigeria in 2024.
- Progressive groups organized the Pan-Africanism Summit Against Imperialism in Nairobi to challenge the official agenda, rejecting what they term a "reset" strategy and calling for dismantling neo-colonial monetary structures.
- While Macron's government advocates for "equal partnership" and "effective multilateralism," critics argue the strategy aims to maintain geopolitical relevance amid growing engagement from China, Russia, and Turkey.
56 Articles
56 Articles
So far, France has focused heavily on West Africa. President Macron wants to change his strategy now - also with regard to the influence of China and Russia in Africa. Today an important summit begins in Nairobi. By Karin Bensch.
As in Ouagadougou almost ten years ago, the French Head of State will defend in Nairobi the need for a "reinvented partnership" with the continent, convinced that France, although heeled – and sometimes overtaken – by other actors, still has a role to play. It will be on the occasion of Africa Forward, which opens on Monday 11 May.
The Toronto Star
Changing geopolitics are in focus as France’s Macron kicks off Kenya visit for an Africa summit
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron kicked off a visit to Kenya on Sunday ahead of the Africa Forward Summit, a gathering meant to showcase France’s new policy for the continent — a shift from a former colonial…
On a visit to Kenya for the Africa Forward Summit, French President Emmanuel Macron wants to mark a break with the old diplomatic practices in Africa The "pre-square" era
The agreement, signed at the Africa Forward Summit, provides for collaboration in the development of transport and logistics infrastructure.
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