Macron seeks to cement Africa legacy with Kenya summit

Macron seeks to cement Africa legacy with Kenya summit

President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday embarks on a visit to Africa aimed at renewing France’s engagement with the continent after years of strained ties with former French‑speaking colonies.

Emmanuel Macron

In English‑speaking Kenya, Macron will co‑host a summit on Monday and Tuesday bringing together African leaders and business executives, as he seeks to cement his legacy one year before the end of his term.

He will also travel to Egypt and Ethiopia as part of his Africa tour.

“The Africa Forward summit marks a major milestone in relations between France and the African continent,” the Elysee Palace said.

The meeting will focus on economic development and cross‑border investment, among other themes, the French presidency said, stressing that it will be the first such forum held in an English‑speaking country.

Macron hopes to highlight France’s renewed relationship with the continent as a “report card on his Africa policy”, said one diplomat.

Anti‑French sentiment runs high in some former African colonies as the continent becomes a renewed diplomatic battleground, with Russian and Chinese influence growing.

Once 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.

France has vowed to abandon the so‑called “Francafrique” strategy, under which Paris sought to keep francophone Africa under its thumb through political collusion, exclusive access for French businesses and oblique financial deals including graft.

Macron has gone further than his predecessors in admitting France’s colonial-era abuses in countries including Rwanda, Cameroon and Senegal. But he has ruled out any official apology for torture and other abuses carried out by French troops in Algeria.

Ahead of his trip, French parliament definitively adopted legislation to simplify the return of artworks looted during the colonial era.

But under his watch, French forces deployed in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger withdrew following successive coups, as the juntas in those countries drew closer to Russia.

The unravelling of those ties came after Macron in 2020 summoned leaders of Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mauritania to the southwestern French town of Pau, threatening to pull out French troops.