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A high-level summit has opened in Nairobi, Kenya with a call for Africa and France to forge a forward-looking partnership rooted in sovereign equality, mutual benefit, shared responsibility and not aid dependency.
The host speaker President William Ruto described Nairobi as “the cradle of humankind, the birthplace of our shared human history, and the origin of wonder,” framing the summit as a “profound, consequential moment in global affairs.”
Addressing a world facing geopolitical divisions, persistent conflicts, economic volatility, climate pressures, and shifting trade alignments, President Ruto warned that long-standing assumptions about stability and cooperation are being tested.
“Fragmentation and isolation are not answers. We must respond with stronger cooperation, renewed multilateralism, and partnerships grounded in sovereign equality, mutual respect, and shared responsibility,” he said.
President Ruto noted that Africa was positioned as a strategic actor, not a peripheral player and the continent was endowed with vast natural resources, expanding markets, and one of the world’s largest reservoirs of youthful talent and innovation.
He stressed that Africa-France cooperation should move beyond aid and charity to mutually beneficial investments, and beyond extraction to win-win engagements.
“As Africa approaches this summit, we do so not from the margins of global affairs but as a strategic actor in its own right,” President Ruto emphasized.
He added that Africa should increasingly finance its own development by unlocking more than $4 trillion in long-term domestic savings.
President Ruto highlighted that the continent held over $1 trillion in pensions and insurance assets and more than $500 billion in Central Bank Reserves.
“Africa must increasingly finance Africa. Let me repeat that: Africa must increasingly finance Africa. Yet governments continue to struggle to finance critical infrastructure, including transport corridors, energy systems, industrial parks, logistics networks, and affordable housing,” he said.
President Ruto noted that there was capital in Africa, but that its development projects remained starved of financing and therefore the issue was not liquidity but the risk architecture.
Read More: President Hichilema to attend Africa–France partnerships summit in Nairobi
He said to address the gap, Kenya reaffirmed support for the Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions, endorsed at the last African Union summit.
President Ruto said the alliance brought together institutions including the African Development Bank, Afreximbank, Africa Finance Corporation, Trade and Development Bank, Shelter Afrique Development Bank, Africa50, and Africa Trade and Investment Development Insurance.
“The goal is to coordinate capital mobilization, risk sharing, and project execution across the continent. Africa is steadily strengthening its capacity to finance infrastructure, industrialization, trade, housing, climate resilience, and economic transformation,” he said.
Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema is also part of the delegates attending the Africa-France Summit which will run from May 11 to May 12, 2026.
The Summit focuses on seven thematic areas central to Zambia’s priorities: reform of the international financial architecture, energy transition, green industrialisation, digital innovation, sustainable agriculture, health systems, and coordinated climate action.
On Monday, May 11, President Hichilema met several Heads of State and Government during a dinner hosted by President Ruto.
“As leaders, we stand together in our dedication to fostering partnerships that connect our nations across geographical divides. Our focus is on using this summit to secure tangible benefits for the Zambian people,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
President Hichilema expressed his gratitude to French President Emmanuel Macron and President Ruto for their warm hospitality.
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