The second day of the Africa Forward Summit wrapped up in Nairobi, Kenya, on May 12, 2026, marking a significant shift in Africa–France relations towards a more equal and innovative partnership.
Co-chaired by H.E. William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya, and H.E. Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic of France, the day brings together Heads of state and government in an unprecedented format and level of participation.
The Africa Forward Summit 2026 is designed as an implementation focused platform, prioritising bankable investment opportunities, policy reform outcomes and public– private partnerships with actionable commitments and clear delivery pathways.
Heads of State, senior government officials, diplomats, and international partners attend the high-level opening session of the Africa Forward Summit 2026 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi, bringing together leaders to shape a new era of Africa–France collaboration focused on investment, innovation, and shared prosperity.
The morning session will featured two high-level plenary engagements by the Heads of State and Government on Green Industrialisation and Energy Transition, and Peace and Security. The Summit will also featured a working lunch with forty African and French top business leaders, alongside multilateral, regional, national and private financing institutions.
The working lunch focused on the reform of the international financial architecture. Its objective is to coordinate and identify concrete strategies aimed at strengthening the financing of sustainable growth, by mobilising both domestic and international private capital and improving coordination across all levels of the development finance architecture.
The day’s activities also included four parallel thematic roundtables: blue economy, sustainable agriculture, artificial intelligence and digital technologies, and Resilient health systems.
Each of the themes would be addressed in an inclusive format designed to foster dynamic discussions, bringing together policymakers, international organizations, and representatives from the private sector and civil society.
“We demand stronger cooperation, renewed multilateralism, and partnerships grounded not on hierarchy, but in sovereign equality, mutual respect, and shared responsibility. It is in that spirit that we convene this summit, grounded in our shared conviction that enduring partnerships must not be built on dependency, but on sovereign equality. Not on aid or charity, but on mutually beneficial investments. And not on extraction or exploitation, but on win-win engagements,” Kenyan President Williams Ruto said.
“Today, we have an agenda aimed at addressing Africa’s contemporary challenges. Together with Kenya, we will champion this agenda throughout the year at the United Nations and during the Evian G7. France and Europe will always stand alongside Africa in supporting the continent’s aspirations for peace and prosperity,” said France President Emmanuel Macron.
Hosted for the firsttime, in non-Francophone Africa, the Summit carries an ambitious message of affirming, strengthening, and accelerating partnership between African countries and France, through an approach based on balance, complementarity, and cross-border investment.
It aims to reset the economic ties between African countries and France, particularly in the context of co-creating the future of Africa and France for mutual prosperity and growth of our peoples.
The discussions will build on the momentum set from the Africa Forward Business and Youth Forum held on May 11, which convened over 2,500 business leaders, investors, and young innovators, reinforcing the Summit’s strong integration of youth as well as public and private sector engagement. The message is clear. The youth will be at the centre of Africa’s re-imagined future and constitute the key drivers moving forward.
The Africa Forward Summit marks a deliberate and structural shift in Africa–France relations—from historically shaped engagements to a future-oriented partnership defined by mutual respect, equality, and actionable outcomes. Anchored in the principle of shared responsibility and mutual benefit, the Summit reflects a renewed commitment to reposition Africa not as a recipient of development support, but as a strategic partner and co-architect of global solutions.
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