By Marc Fonbaustier
Almost ten years after French President Emmanuel Macron’s Ouagadougou speech, which laid the foundations for renewed relations between France and the countries of Africa, 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. And so 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 (21 regionally-oriented national schools, ENVRs); supporting greater representation of the continent of Africa in international forums; mobilising our partners by organising summits on the economic growth of the continent (Conference on the Financing of African Economies in 2021 and Paris Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in 2023), fighting global warming (One Forest Summit in Gabon in 2023), strengthening food security (Food & Agriculture Resilience Mission in 2022), and producing vaccines in Africa (Global Forum for Vaccine Sovereignty and Innovation in 2024).
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.
Similarly, France has been able to face 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 it was requested (Rwanda, Senegal, Cameroon) and an unprecedented movement on the return of cultural goods was initiated (Benin, Algeria, Senegal, Madagascar, Côte d’Ivoire).
Specifically, in Nigeria, France’s renewed commitment has led to:
the implementation of various initiatives aiming at strengthening Nigeria’s food sovereignty, through funding for rural roads and food markets, strengthening of 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 creatives industries such as movies (documentaries, animation…), fashion, music, e-sport and others, with one key objective: helping Nigerian actors to scale up, engage global markets and increase job creation; new bridges between the French and Nigerian tech ecosystems (including through the French Tech Lagos community), facilitation of commercial partnerships, investment and business opportunities; capacity-building; investment from Proparco in Nigerian start-ups through the Choose Africa VC programme.
In the same vein, the Africa Forward Summit, for the first time hosted and co-chaired by an English-speaking country, will reflect the profound transformation in its ties with African countries which France undertook almost 10 years ago, based on acknowledgement of the past and a will to build balanced, forward-looking partnerships.
It will be an opportunity to highlight the commitment of France, Kenya, and other African countries to stepping up mutual investment and to building and financing tangible solutions to common challenges, including health system strengthening, food sovereignty, digital competitiveness, energy access, and connectivity. It will illustrate the rich diversity of relations between Africa and France, built around a wide variety of actors – States, business leaders, young people, artists, diasporas, with special emphasis on young people and the private sector.
The results of the summit, which are 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.
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