Almost ten years after French President Emmanuel Macron’s Ouagadougou speech, which laid the foundations for renewed relations between France and African countries, Kenya and France are co-organising the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi on 11 and 12 May 2026. This renewal is built on a partnership of equals, based on shared interests and tangible results.
Initiatives Over the Past Nine Years
Various initiatives have been implemented over the past nine years: ending permanent French military presence and closing bases in Senegal, Chad, Gabon and Côte d’Ivoire; prioritising training courses through 21 regionally-oriented national schools; supporting greater representation of Africa in international forums; mobilising partners by organising summits on economic growth, such as the Conference on the Financing of African Economies in 2021 and the Paris Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in 2023; fighting global warming via the One Forest Summit in Gabon in 2023; strengthening food security through the Food & Agriculture Resilience Mission in 2022; and producing vaccines in Africa at the Global Forum for Vaccine Sovereignty and Innovation in 2024.
Cultural and Creative Industries
In October 2025, Lagos hosted the Creation Africa Forum, supported by France and designed to strengthen African creative ecosystems, foster partnerships between African and European professionals, and scale up emerging talents in high-potential sectors such as video games, animation, digital fashion and VR. France has also faced its colonial past, with a will to move forward in a spirit of dialogue. Remembrance work on the actions of the French State and public administration began wherever requested, including Rwanda, Senegal, and Cameroon, and an unprecedented movement on the return of cultural goods was initiated in Benin, Algeria, Senegal, Madagascar, and Côte d’Ivoire.
Commitment to Nigeria
In Nigeria, France’s renewed commitment has led to various initiatives aiming at strengthening Nigeria’s food sovereignty through funding for rural roads and food markets, strengthening local value chains and vocational training. A new project, Value Chain North, will be launched this year within the framework of a partnership between federal and state authorities, FIDA and France. Support to cultural and creative industries such as movies, fashion, music, e-sport and others is also provided, with a key objective of helping Nigerian actors scale up, engage global markets and increase job creation. New bridges between the French and Nigerian tech ecosystems have been established, including through the French Tech Lagos community, facilitating commercial partnerships, investment and business opportunities, capacity-building, and investment from Proparco in Nigerian start-ups through the Choose Africa VC programme.
Summit Objectives
The Africa Forward Summit, for the first time hosted and co-chaired by an English-speaking country, will reflect the profound transformation in ties with African countries that France undertook almost 10 years ago, based on acknowledgement of the past and a will to build balanced, forward-looking partnerships. It will highlight the commitment of France, Kenya, and other African countries to stepping up mutual investment and building and financing tangible solutions to common challenges, including health system strengthening, food sovereignty, digital competitiveness, energy access, and connectivity. The summit will illustrate the rich diversity of relations between Africa and France, built around a wide variety of actors including states, business leaders, young people, artists, and diasporas, with special emphasis on young people and the private sector. The results of the summit, focused on action and built with all the continent’s Heads of State and Government, will help consolidate the ties binding Africa and France and build forward-looking partnerships.
Fonbaustier is the Ambassador of France to Nigeria and ECOWAS.
