François Picard welcomes the Minister Delegate for Francophonie, International Partnerships, and French Citizens Abroad Éléonore Caroit. She hails the “renewed relationship” between France and African nations, one increasingly defined by private capital, educational cooperation, strategic partnerships, digital innovation, and linguistic ties. Against the backdrop of 23 billion euros worth of investment commitments tied to the Africa Forward summit in Kenya, “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.”