Mixed scorecard as Kenya hosts historic France-Africa summit (In)

French President Emmanuel Macron and Kenya President William Ruto during the closing of Africa Forward Summit on May, 2026 .[ Jonah onyango, Standard]

Kenya became the first country in Anglophone Africa to host the Africa Forward Summit marking a major structural shift in Africa-France relations.  
The milestone event brought French President Emmanuel Macron to a stage where France’s influence has narrowed sharply following political turmoil and ruptures across parts of West Africa and the Sahel, analysts said.   

In Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, military juntas have severed ties with Paris and moved toward new security partnerships. Against that backdrop, Macron used the Nairobi meeting to argue that France is pivoting from older models of engagement to a relationship he said was investment-led, mutually beneficial and rooted in “respect for sovereignty.”