French President Emmanuel Macron announced 23 billion euros ($27 billion) in combined investment at the Africa Forward summit in Nairobi on Wednesday, while making an pointed appeal for African businesses to reciprocate by investing in France, a signal that Paris is attempting to recast its relationship with the continent on fundamentally different terms.
The two-day summit, held at Nairobi’s convention centre and attended by heads of state and senior leaders from more than 30 African nations, was France’s first major investment forum held in an English-speaking African country, itself a deliberate signal of Paris’s intent to rebuild credibility beyond its traditional Francophone sphere.
The investment package comprises 14 billion euros ($16.4 billion) from French public and private entities and nine billion euros ($10.5 billion) from African companies, targeting energy transition, agriculture and artificial intelligence (AI). Macron said the combined commitments would generate 250,000 jobs across France and Africa.
“We are not simply here to come and invest on the African continent alongside you, we need great African business leaders to come and invest in France,” he told assembled leaders.
Among those in attendance were Africa’s richest man, Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote, and executives from French firms TotalEnergies and Orange. French shipping group CMA CGM separately committed 700 million euros ($820 million) to modernise a terminal at the Kenyan port of Mombasa.
Macron also addressed the long-contested issue of looted African cultural heritage, describing the return of colonial-era artefacts as now unstoppable. The French Parliament passed legislation last week clearing the way for government to facilitate those returns.
In remarks made ahead of the summit, Macron pushed back against a singular focus on colonial history as an explanation for Africa’s current challenges, calling on African governments to strengthen governance as part of any genuine partnership.
The summit arrives as France works to rebuild influence across a continent where military coups and growing anti-French sentiment in several former colonies have significantly eroded Paris’s traditional standing.
