French President Emmanuel Macron began a two-day visit to Kenya on Sunday ahead of the Africa Forward Summit, an event designed to spotlight France’s newer policy toward the continent, positioning it as a shift from what Paris is seen as having previously dominated as a former colonial power. The summit, which starts on Monday, is the first such gathering held in an Anglophone country and is expected to draw international and domestic reactions to how France’s influence in Africa has changed in recent years.
Macron, who was hosted by Kenyan President William Ruto in Nairobi, opened his visit amid an emphasis by both governments on reframing relations as mutual rather than hierarchical. Ruto said both leaders expect the summit to be a “turning point” toward a better partnership, while Macron said France can “disagree” with West African governments but “never disagrees with the people.”
The event also comes at a moment when France’s military posture in West Africa is under scrutiny. The summit is expected to focus attention on France’s withdrawal of troops from West Africa that was completed last year, part of what AP described as France’s waning regional influence. Since the independence of France’s former African colonies, France had maintained a policy often referred to as Françafrique, including keeping thousands of troops in the region, and critics in those countries and opposition figures have long complained it amounted to a heavy-handed approach.
During the same-day engagements, Ruto said Nairobi was seeking to nurture a wide array of relationships and described Kenya’s posture as not directed “East or West” but “looking forward.” As the summit gets underway, officials said it is expected to welcome 30 heads of state, with 10 having arrived so far as of Sunday.
Kenya’s opposition leader Kalonzo Musyoka challenged the premise of holding the summit in Nairobi, arguing that democracy remains under threat and that the opposition is facing pressure even as the country prepares for the 2027 general election. Musyoka said, “There will be an air of pretense that we are a cohesive nation,” adding, “We know that is far from the truth.”
Alongside the summit diplomacy, Kenya and France signed 11 agreements on Sunday, covering investments in sectors that included nuclear energy, transport, and sustainable agriculture. Macron said the investments were intended to strengthen “human capital,” aligning them with the summit’s stated focus on innovation and with Africa’s growing young population.