Macron Backs Investment Push as Africa Forward Summit Opens in Kenya

Mintesinot Niggusie

French President Emmanuel Macron and more than 30 African leaders gathered in Nairobi on Monday as the Africa Forward Summit opened with a focus on investment flows, trade integration and shifting geopolitical alliances across the continent.

The summit began with a business forum at the University of Nairobi attended by Macron and Kenyan President William Ruto, alongside senior executives from French companies including TotalEnergies and Orange. Business figures such as Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, also took part, alongside heads of state, deputy presidents and prime ministers.

Kenya is using the summit to position itself as a hub for attracting foreign investment tied to the African Continental Free Trade Area, which seeks to establish a single market across Africa. President Ruto has also been seeking support for reforms to the global financial system aimed at easing debt pressures in African economies, a proposal France has publicly supported.

On Sunday, during a state visit to Kenya ahead of the summit, Macron announced that French shipping group CMA CGM plans to invest 700 million euros (823 million US dollars) to upgrade infrastructure at the Port of Mombasa, East Africa’s largest gateway port. The gathering marks the first time France has hosted the initiative in an English-speaking African country since it began in the 1970s.

Kenyan Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi said Nairobi expects outcomes from the summit to help shape discussions at the upcoming G7 meeting in France. The summit takes place against a backdrop of shifting French influence in Africa, particularly in West Africa, where military-led governments have expelled French troops since 2020.

France has also withdrawn its last major military base in Senegal after President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said foreign military installations were incompatible with national sovereignty. Macron acknowledged the absence of some African leaders but said France remained committed to maintaining engagement across the continent, including in West Africa.