NAIROBI, Kenya — France is seeking to redefine its relationship with Africa through a new diplomatic and military strategy aimed increasingly at English-speaking nations, as President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Kenya for the Africa Forward Summit amid a continuing retreat from West Africa.
The two-day summit in Nairobi, co-hosted by France and Kenya, comes at a delicate moment for Paris. France has completed or begun major troop withdrawals from several West African countries where anti-French sentiment has surged in recent years, eroding a decades-old system of political, economic and military influence known as Françafrique.
Macron was welcomed on Sunday at State House in Nairobi by Kenyan president William Ruto before talks expected to focus on trade, defence cooperation and investment. More than 30 African heads of state and government are attending the summit, including leaders from French-speaking countries that once formed the core of France’s African alliances.
French officials say the gathering represents a shift towards what Paris describes as a “partnership of equals”, with less emphasis on military dominance and greater focus on economic and strategic cooperation. Kenya, east Africa’s largest economy and a close western security ally, has emerged as central to that recalibration.
On arrival in Nairobi, Macron acknowledged tensions between France and some West African governments but insisted Paris remained committed to African citizens. “France may disagree with governments,” he said, “but it never disagrees with the people.”
The summit is the first major France-Africa meeting to be held in an English-speaking African country, underscoring Paris’s efforts to expand beyond its traditional francophone sphere of influence.
Yet France’s new defence partnership with Kenya has already become politically contentious. Civil society groups and opposition figures have criticised the Kenya-France Defence Cooperation Agreement, arguing it grants excessive legal protections to French troops operating in the country.
The agreement, signed in October 2025 by Kenya’s defence minister Soipan Tuya and the French ambassador to Kenya, Arnaud Suquet, was ratified by parliament in April alongside separate military cooperation deals with China, Italy and the Czech Republic.
Critics say the accord echoes earlier arrangements between Kenya and the United Kingdom that shielded foreign soldiers from local accountability. Anger over such agreements has persisted since the 2012 killing of Agnes Wanjiru, a young Kenyan woman last seen alive with a British soldier near the British Army Training Unit in Nanyuki. Kenyan courts recently approved the extradition of a British soldier linked to the case.
The French agreement grants visiting forces primary jurisdiction over offences committed while on duty, a provision opponents fear could limit prosecutions in Kenyan courts. Concerns have also been sharpened by memories of the 2021 Lolldaiga ranch fire, allegedly linked to British troops during a training exercise.
Kenya’s parliamentary defence committee chair, Nelson Koech, defended the agreement, arguing that partnerships with advanced militaries would strengthen Kenya’s defence capabilities through training and intelligence-sharing. He rejected claims that the treaties undermined national sovereignty and said newer agreements included guarantees that serious crimes, including murder, would be tried in Kenya.
About 800 French troops arrived in Kenya last month aboard a naval vessel ahead of joint exercises and summit security operations, signalling France’s determination to maintain a strategic foothold in east Africa even as its influence wanes elsewhere on the continent.