Stripped of influence in several of its former West African colonies, France is turning its focus elsewhere on the continent as it prepares to deepen ties at an Africa summit next week in Nairobi, its first in an English-speaking country.
With just a year left in office, French President Emmanuel Macron is seeking to present what an aide at the Elysee Palace described as a “renewed partnership” with Africa.
The summit on Monday and Tuesday will bring together heads of state, business leaders and executives from multilateral development banks. It comes after a string of setbacks for France in parts of Africa where it has long held sway.
Since 2020, a wave of coups across the Sahel has installed military rulers who have pushed out French troops and, in several cases, invited Russian mercenaries to fill the security vacuum.
France also handed over control of its last major military facility in Senegal last July after Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who is expected to attend the Kenya summit, said French bases were incompatible with the country’s sovereignty.
