France plays catch up in push to strengthen Africa relations

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Emmanuel Macron was in Nairobi last week for an inaugural summit designed to strengthen the relationship between France and Africa.

So what? He’s playing catch up. While Russia, China and the US already enjoy significant influence across the continent, France’s desire for a “mutually respectful partnership” suggests that Macron wants to compete. But this goal runs up against

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  France’s extensive colonial legacy;

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  disintegrating relationships across West Africa; and

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  Macron himself, who has been derided for his claim to be a “Pan-Africanist”.

Best of frenemies. The second French colonial empire was one of the largest in history, touching many parts of the globe but focused on several colonies in west Africa. Although most of French Africa gained independence in the 20th century, France continues to exercise considerable influence over many former African colonies by maintaining a heavy military presence and administering the CFA Franc, the main currency in francophone Africa.

RIP Françafrique? A flurry of coups has weakened France’s influence in West Africa, with seven countries forcing out French troops.

The rebound. France is actively working to build bridges elsewhere on the continent. The Africa Forward summit marks the first time France has held a bilateral event in an anglophone African country. Last year Macron invited the president of Angola, a lusophone country, to a summit in Paris to sign a cooperation deal worth roughly £375m.

Gold and guns. Although a key issue in the Africa Forward summit was money and development, peace and security was also discussed. France recently signed a defence cooperation deal with Kenya and deployed 800 troops to Mombasa. Bordering the Indian Ocean, Kenya would be a useful military location for France for any Middle Eastern conflict. The US already has a base there.

A crowded field. While people used to come to Africa with Maxim guns, now they carry trade agreements. France is one of many countries trying to court Africa to compete with nations such as Russia, China and the US. The trio have several bilateral agreements, which give them access to

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  minerals;

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  biological samples; and

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  agricultural products across the continent.

Spotting an opportunity. Russia has supplanted France’s military in several countries in West Africa, and its Africa Corps have started providing training to troops in the former French colony of Madagascar. But Moscow recently suffered a setback in West Africa when its Africa Corps were forced to withdraw from northern Mali after being overpowered by jihadists.

Listen to the people. Although Macron talked repeatedly about parity at the Africa Forward Summit and invited Kenya to replace South Africa at the upcoming G7 meeting in Évian-les-Bains, dozens of protesters took to the streets of Nairobi to call him an imperialist.

Read the room. A viral video of Macron interrupting a summit event to tell audience members to be quiet didn’t help. Nor did another of Macron saying: “We are the true Pan-Africanists. We believe that Africa is a continent, and that this continent has an enormous amount to build.”

Hardly Kwame Nkrumah. Pan-Africanism, first developed among Black Caribbean, American, South American and African activists in the early 20th century, is a movement centred around the global empowerment of people of African descent. France was one of the colonial powers against which the first Pan-Africanists were fighting.

Tin eared. This is not the first time that Macron, who interned at the French embassy in Nigeria in his 20s, has been criticised for comments he has made about Africa. In 2025, talking about French troops kicked out of the Sahel, he spoke of the “ingratitude” of West African leaders.

What’s more… Although many of France’s relationships are strained, the presidents of Côte D’Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea and Senegal did still attend the summit. Françafrique is not dead yet.

Photograph by Luis Tato / AFP via Getty Images