Spotlight on Africa: Does the Africa Forward summit signal a fresh start?

This week, Spotlight on Africa takes you to the Africa Forward summit hosted by France and Kenya in Nairobi on 11 and 12 May. It marks the first time France has staged such an event in an English-speaking African country, and comes at a moment of change and challenges.

Joining Kenyan President William Ruto at the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron is accompanied by some 30 heads of state, as well as between 1,500 and 2,000 French and African business leaders and stakeholders. Young people, artists and athletes are also among those invited.

Entitled Africa Forward: Partnerships between Africa and France for Innovation and Growth, according to the Élysée its aim is to forge closer ties with East African economies in the wake of a series of diplomatic crises across the Sahel.

France to host African summit in Kenya, in bid to ‘diversify alliances'

Also on the agenda are discussions on creative and cultural industries as economic drivers, and sport as an emerging frontier for investment and job creation. The energy transition, infrastructure development, regional connectivity and agriculture and food systems are also on the agenda.

A new era?

According to XN Ikari of the University of Nairobi, France appears to be looking to East Africa after failing to support its partners in West Africa. New investors, he adds, are always welcome in Kenya.

For Roland Marchal, a senior research fellow at Sciences Po Paris covering Africa, the significance of the summit remains to be seen, depending on whether its promises on investment and climate justice materialise.

"The simple fact that the conference will pay attention to these issues is positive in itself," he told RFI. "Macron may rhetorically commit some money for new climate initiatives, [but] this could be heard with some scepticism, as African leaders know very well that France is facing its own internal issues."

He adds that Ruto has been a strong advocate for new environmental policies, and that the choice of Kenya to host the summit could therefore lend credibility to Macron's promises.

"It's always good to have conferences move around and test what the audience wants," infrastructure investment expert Bowale Odumade told RFI.

A central hub for transport and logistics, Nairobi also boasts a thriving financial industry and a technology start-up environment, she adds.

We also speak to Kenyan entrepreneurs, as well as Phil Clark, a professor at London's School of Oriental and African Studies on the greatest challenges facing the French if they want to be seen as equal and respectful partners.

This podcast was edited by Melissa Chemam and Erwan Rome, mixed by Erwan Rome.