Diplomatic danger: The summit was meant to showcase a future-makers
partnership. Instead, it exposed a future-fakers reality. Photo: Supplied
The recent Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi was marketed as the dawn of a “new model of partnership” between France and Africa. But for those watching closely, the summit was less about a leap forward and more about a stumbling backward into the paternalistic patterns of the past.
The visit by French President Emmanuel Macron and the hosting by President William Ruto didn’t just fail to live up to the hype, it was a spectacular flop that exposed the deep-seated tension between African agency and Western entitlement.
The failure began with a misunderstanding of modern Africa.
