Nairobi (AFP) – President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday met his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto in Nairobi as part of an African visit aimed at renewing France’s engagement with the continent after years of strained ties with former colonies.
Macron is to co‑host a two-day summit starting on Monday, bringing together African leaders and business executives, as he seeks to cement his legacy one year before the end of his term. The meeting will focus on economic development and cross‑border investment, among other themes, the French presidency said, stressing that it would be the first such forum held in an English‑speaking country. Macron hopes to highlight France’s renewed relationship with the continent as a “report card on his Africa policy,” said one diplomat.
Anti‑French sentiment runs high in some former African colonies as the continent becomes a renewed diplomatic battleground, with Russian and Chinese influence growing. Once master of vast expanses of northern, central, and western Africa, France has played a crucial role in the continent’s post‑colonial history, repeatedly intervening militarily since the early 1960s. France has vowed to abandon the so‑called “Francafrique” strategy, under which Paris sought to keep francophone Africa under its thumb through political collusion, exclusive access for French businesses, and oblique financial deals, including graft.
Macron arrived in English-speaking Kenya from Egypt and is also due to travel to Ethiopia as part of his Africa tour. On Sunday, the world’s third-largest shipping company, France’s CMA CGM, signed a “strategic partnership agreement” with the Kenyan government to develop logistics and transport infrastructure. The deal, worth 700 million euros ($826 million), will see a new port terminal in Mombasa to accommodate large container ships, Macron said. CMA CGM considers Kenya to be a major regional gateway for east and central Africa. Macron said that investment deals worth more than one billion euros had been signed, including for infrastructure project developer Meridiam to expand Kenya’s second-largest wind farm.
© 2024 AFP
