Au Kenya, Macron affirme que l'ère du "pré carré" français en Afrique est "terminée"
The era of the French "sphere of influence" in Francophone Africa is "over": French leader Emmanuel Macron justified on Sunday, upon his arrival in Kenya, having chosen this Anglophone country for the only major Franco-African summit of his presidency, minimizing in passing the divorce with three Sahelian states.
Mr. Macron arrived in Nairobi from Egypt, on the second day of his African tour, and immediately met with his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto, whom he considers a key ally at a time when France is seeking to diversify its relations on the continent after years of setbacks in its former colonies.
The two leaders will hold an Africa-France summit on Monday and Tuesday, the first in an English-speaking country, called "Africa Forward" and resolutely focused on the economy and investments.
"I too am looking ahead. I see that we have changed everything in the last 10 years," Emmanuel Macron asserted during a joint press conference.
"I have never considered Francophone Africa to be my exclusive domain," he insisted. "Since 2017," the year he came to power, "that era is over," he continued, stating that he did not want to "hide" the difficulties with other countries by choosing Kenya.
In three Sahelian countries - Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger - coups from 2020 to 2023 precipitated the divorce with France and the departure of its army, crystallizing criticism against French policy.
The leaders of these three countries are notably absent from the Nairobi summit, which coincides with rising pressure on the Malian junta and its Russian allies from jihadists and Tuareg rebels.
"I would like to clarify that West African countries will be present" despite these absences, Mr. Macron replied, citing the leaders of Senegal, Ivory Coast, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In total, he mentioned the expected presence of some 35 African heads of state and government.
He also criticized the military in power in Bamako, stating that "current events show that the Malian junta did not make the best decision" by demanding the departure of the French army which was fighting the jihadists until 2022.
Anti-French sentiment has also risen elsewhere across the continent, from Senegal to Madagascar via Algeria, where relations remain volatile despite a new beginning of a thaw.
The partnership with Kenya is intended to be emblematic of the "renewed relationship" that Paris wishes to have with Africa. Kenya now hosts 140 French companies of varying profiles and sizes, compared to around thirty large companies just 15 years ago.
On Sunday, the French shipping company CMA CGM signed a "strategic partnership agreement" with the Kenyan government to develop logistics and transport infrastructure, for an amount of 700 million euros.
“We share common positions on reforming the international financial architecture,” emphasized William Ruto, who has become a key player in these new Franco-African ties. This issue is on the agenda for Tuesday’s summit, aimed at mobilizing private capital and circumventing the shortage of official development assistance.
The Kenyan president is expected to emerge strengthened from this summit, and then represent his continent in mid-June at a G7 summit in Evian, France, to which he has been invited by Emmanuel Macron.
The Nairobi summit is intended to be focused on the economy and investments, with a large delegation of French business leaders in attendance, including Rodolphe Saadé (CMA CGM), Patrick Pouyanné (TotalEnergies), Sébastien Bazin (Accor) and Antoine de Saint-Affrique (Danone).
These CEOs will meet on Tuesday with more than twenty heads of state and government expected to attend, and promises of investments of several billion euros are planned, according to a diplomatic source.
French diplomacy hopes in this way to respond to criticism of a certain disengagement by some French companies, which has gone hand in hand with the decline of Paris' influence in several African countries.
While Emmanuel Macron's founding speech on African policy in 2017 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, did mention this desire to diversify the relationship, multiply partnerships and rely on "soft power" instruments such as sport or culture, the trend has also been accelerated by the geopolitical situation.
The French president's African tour will end on Wednesday in Ethiopia.
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