This week, Spotlight on Africa takes you to the ‘Africa Forward’ summit, hosted by France and Kenya in Nairobi on the 11th and 12th of May. It marks the first time Paris has staged such an event in an English-speaking African country – and it comes at a moment of significant change and considerable challenges.
Joining Kenyan President William Ruto at the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron is accompanied by some 30 heads of state, as well as between 1,500 and 2,000 French and African business leaders and stakeholders. Young people, artists and athletes are also among those invited.
Formally titled Africa Forward: Partnerships between Africa and France for Innovation and Growth, the summit reflects a stated desire to diversify France’s alliances. According to the Élysée, the aim is to forge closer ties with East African economies in the wake of a series of diplomatic crises across the Sahel.
France to host African summit in Kenya, in bid to ‘diversify alliances’
Also on the agenda are discussions on creative and cultural industries as economic drivers, and sport as an emerging frontier for investment and job creation. The energy transition, infrastructure development, regional connectivity, and agriculture and food systems feature among the other topics under consideration.
Over 1,500 participants have registered for the first Africa Forward summit in Nairobi, opened on 11 May 2026. © RFI/Melissa Chemam
A new era?
According to XN Ikari, professor at the University of Nairobi, France still appears to be looking to East Africa after failing to support its partners in West Africa. New investors, he adds, are always welcome in Kenya.
For Roland Marchal, a senior research fellow at Sciences Po Paris covering Africa, the significance of the summit remains to be seen, depending on whether its promises on investment and climate justice materialise.
“The simple fact that the conference will pay attention to these issues is positive in itself,” he tells RFI. “And Macron may rhetorically commit some money for new climate initiatives, this could be heard with some scepticism, as African leaders know very well that France is facing its own internal issues.”
He adds that William Ruto has been a strong advocate for new environmental policies, and that the choice of Kenya to host the summit could therefore lend credibility to Emmanuel Macron’s promises.
Presidents Macron and Ruto at the Africa Forward summit in Nairobi on 11 May 2026. © RFI/Melissa Chemam
“It’s always good to have conferences move around and test what the audience wants,” infrastructure investment expert Bowale Odumade tells RFI, as you’ll hear.
A central hub for transport and logistics, Nairobi also boasts a thriving financial industry and a technology start-up environment, she adds.
Also featured are Kenyan entrepreneurs, as well as Phil Clark, professor at SOAS, based between South Africa and the UK, on the greatest challenges facing the French if they want to be seen as equal and respectful partners.
This podcast was edited by Melissa Chemam and Erwan Rome, mixed by Erwan Rome.
