We can disagree with governments, but we never disagree with people
In Nairobi this week, Emmanuel Macron convened the first French-African summit ever held outside a francophone nation, a symbolic and strategic concession to a continent that has been pushing back against decades of French political and military entanglement. Since 2022, France has lost its military footing in Mali, Niger, and Chad — expelled by coup-backed governments riding waves of anti-colonial anger — and the Françafrique model of influence-through-dependency has cracked under its own contradictions. The gathering in Kenya, framed around energy, security, and financial reform, asks an old question in new language: whether a former imperial power can genuinely become a partner, or whether rebranding is simply empire's most durable adaptation.
- France's expulsion from Mali, Niger, and Chad since 2022 left a gaping hole in its continental strategy, forcing a reckoning with the limits of influence built on military presence and political leverage.
- The decision to hold the summit in anglophone Kenya — snubbing the francophone world where France's grip has collapsed — signals both a tactical retreat and an attempt to reframe the entire relationship.
- Macron's careful pivot around absent leaders from Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger — pointing instead to artists and entrepreneurs from those countries — reveals the tension between diplomatic reality and aspirational messaging.
- A defense agreement signed with Kenya last year, followed by the arrival of 800 French troops for exercises, has already drawn accusations that France is simply shifting its military footprint rather than abandoning it.
- The summit's language of 'equal footing' and 'mutual respect' is being watched closely by analysts who see strategic necessity dressed as principle — and by African civil society groups alert to neocolonialism in new clothes.
Emmanuel Macron arrived in Nairobi for a summit that would have been unthinkable just years ago. For the first time in its 53-year history, the French-African summit was held in a country where French is not an official language — a deliberate signal that Paris is trying to recast its relationship with a continent where its influence has been visibly unraveling.
The rupture has been sharp. Since 2022, France has withdrawn military forces from Mali, Niger, and Chad, pushed out by coup-backed governments and populations who saw Françafrique — the system of maintaining control over former colonies through military, political, and economic leverage — as neocolonialism by another name. Some governments terminated their defense treaties with Paris outright.
In Kenya, Macron attempted to reframe the losses. Standing alongside President William Ruto, he acknowledged the absence of leaders from the countries where France's influence had collapsed, but pointed to the academics, artists, and entrepreneurs from those nations who were present. 'We can disagree with some of these governments, but we never disagree with people,' he said. The summit was organized around energy transition, security, and global financial reform, and both leaders spoke the language of equality and shared responsibility — a marked departure from the paternalism that long defined French policy on the continent.
Analysts were measured. Holding the summit in an anglophone hub, they noted, allowed France to repackage its Africa policy as broader and more economic, less tethered to colonial history. For Ruto, the gathering served Kenya's own ambitions: to be seen as a serious international convening power. The two countries had already signed a defense agreement the previous year — one that drew criticism from Kenyan civil society for granting French soldiers legal immunity — and 800 French troops had arrived for exercises in March, suggesting a relocation of military presence rather than its abandonment.
The question the summit could not fully answer was whether France's new vocabulary of partnership signals genuine transformation or represents neocolonialism's most sophisticated iteration yet — patient, rebranded, and waiting.
Emmanuel Macron arrived in Nairobi this week for a summit that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. For the first time in its 53-year history, the French-African summit—a gathering meant to cement Paris's influence across the continent—was being held in a country that does not speak French as an official language. More than 30 heads of state and government convened in Kenya's capital on Tuesday for what organizers called Africa Forward, a deliberate rebranding of France's relationship with a continent where its grip has been slipping for years.
The shift is not cosmetic. Since 2022, France has withdrawn military forces from Mali, Niger, and Chad—countries where Paris had maintained troops and defense agreements for decades. Those withdrawals came amid a wave of coups backed by populations angry at what they saw as French neocolonialism, the old game of maintaining political and economic control under the guise of partnership. The anti-France sentiment was sharp enough that some governments terminated their defense treaties with Paris outright. For a country that had long relied on what it called Françafrique—a system of maintaining influence in former colonies through military, political, and economic leverage—the losses represented a fundamental rupture.
Macron's gambit in Kenya was to suggest that France was ready to move beyond that model. At a joint press briefing with Kenyan President William Ruto on Sunday, he acknowledged the absence of leaders from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—the very countries where France's influence had collapsed—but pivoted to emphasize the academics, artists, and entrepreneurs from those nations who were attending. "We can disagree with some of these governments, but we never disagree with people," he said. The message was clear: France was not abandoning Africa, only changing how it would engage.
The summit itself was structured around themes of energy transition, peace and security, and reform of the global financial system. Ruto, in his welcome remarks, spoke of a "renewed and forward-looking partnership" grounded in "mutual respect" and "shared responsibility." Macron echoed the language of equality: "We wish to build partnerships on an equal footing, founded on shared interests and tangible results." The rhetoric was a stark departure from the paternalism that had long characterized French policy on the continent.
Analysts saw the pivot as strategic necessity dressed as principle. Mikhail Nyamweya, an international relations analyst, noted that holding the summit in an anglophone country signaled France was trying to move "beyond its old francophone comfort zone" after losing ground in its traditional sphere of influence. The move also represented an attempt to repackage French Africa policy through an anglophone diplomatic hub, making the relationship appear broader and more economic, less tethered to colonial history. For Kenya's Ruto, the summit served a parallel purpose: positioning his country as a reliable international convening hub and a partner to major powers.
The relationship between France and Kenya has already begun to deepen. The two countries signed a defense agreement last year that drew criticism from opposition groups and civil society organizations in Kenya, who argued it compromised national sovereignty by granting French soldiers legal immunity. In March, 800 French military personnel arrived in Kenya for training and security exercises—a presence that suggested France was simply relocating its military footprint rather than fundamentally reimagining its role.
Macharia Munene, a scholar of history and international relations, described the summit as a convergence of interests between Macron, who has been seeking to establish himself as a global leader, and Ruto, who wants Kenya recognized as a serious international player. The question hanging over the gathering, though, was whether France's new language of partnership and equality would translate into genuine change or whether it represented a more sophisticated version of the same old game—neocolonialism repackaged for a new era.
Citas Notables
France is trying to repackage its Africa policy through an anglophone diplomatic hub, and to present the relationship as broader, more economic, and less tied to its colonial past.— Mikhail Nyamweya, international relations analyst
We wish to build partnerships on an equal footing, founded on shared interests and tangible results.— Emmanuel Macron
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why does it matter that this summit is in Kenya instead of somewhere in the francophone world?
Because it signals France is no longer confident it can lead from its traditional base. The old system depended on France being the center—the language, the culture, the military presence. Holding it in Kenya says France is willing to be a participant rather than a patron.
But France still has military people in Kenya now, right?
Yes, 800 arrived in March. So the question becomes whether this is genuine change or just France finding a new place to plant itself. The Kenyans are getting something out of it—international prestige, security partnerships—but there's real concern about what sovereignty costs.
What do the people in Mali and Niger think about all this?
They're not sending their leaders, which is the whole point. The governments there rejected France. But Macron made a point of saying the academics and artists from those countries are here. It's a way of saying: we're not giving up on you, just on your governments.
Is that credible?
That depends on whether France actually treats these new partners as equals or whether it's just the same power dynamics with better language. The defense agreement with Kenya already has people worried about sovereignty. If France is just relocating its military influence, the rebranding won't hold.
What does Ruto get out of this?
He gets to be seen as a major international player, a convener. Kenya hosts the summit, Kenya looks important. But he's also betting that France is genuinely changing. If it's not, he's just inherited France's credibility problem.