By Jean-Pierre A.
The France-Africa Summit starts today in Nairobi, Kenya, the first to be held in Africa and in a non-French-speaking country, as Paris hopes to cement its relations with the continent following years of anti-French sentiment in some parts of francophone Africa.
The summit, dubbed Africa Forward, brings together African heads of state, business leaders, and policymakers to boost investment in Africa and strengthen France’s cooperation with the continent. But some Pan-African movements have dubbed the summit imperialist and are holding a counter-summit in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, as well as a procession at the country’s parliament.
The Pan-African Summit against Imperialism also starts today in Nairobi to denounce what it calls an “imperialist offensive”. The group said: “The France–Africa Summit, rebranded as ‘Africa Forward’, scheduled to take place in Nairobi on May 11–12, 2026, is not a gesture of goodwill, nor a platform for equal partnership.” The counter- summit organisers added: “It is a rebranded offensive of imperialist recolonization — disguised behind the mask of environmental diplomacy and financial reform.”
President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Kenya on Sunday, May 10, and held talks with his Kenyan counterpart, William Ruto, before addressing a press conference amid questions over the decision to host the summit in an Anglophone country and France’s controversial relations with some of its former colonies.
Some observers said Macron hopes to highlight France’s renewed relationship with the continent. Speaking at a press conference, the French president said he would abandon the so-called “Françafrique” strategy, under which Paris sought to keep francophone Africa under its influence through political collusion, exclusive access for French businesses, and opaque financial deals, including graft.
Macron has revealed that France has lost markets in most of its francophone allies amid stiff competition from Russia and China.
In an interview with The Africa Report, a Paris-based publication, Macron said: “The paradox is that we are not the predators of this century.”
France’s military presence on the continent has also faced backlash in a number of African countries. Several military bases have been closed following orders from some heads of state. In other cases, such as Chad and Senegal, the departures appear to have been negotiated.
Some Sahel nations, such as Burkina Faso, have accused French troops of doing little or nothing to fight jihadists.
Once the master of vast expanses of northern, central, and western Africa, France has played a crucial role in the continent’s post-colonial history, repeatedly intervening militarily since the early 1960s.
