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French President Emmanuel Macron has announced €23 billion in investment commitments for Africa at the close of the “Inspire and Connect” Business Forum, which opened the Africa Forward summit co-hosted by France and Kenya in Nairobi.
Diplomats and investors focused on the scale of the commitments, although the ultimate test will depend on how quickly investors disburse funds.
Switzerland’s Ecofin News Agency reports that the forum initially targeted 2,000 to 2,500 business leaders, but organizers said nearly 7,000 participants attended the event at the University of Nairobi.
Participants joined 32 panels across four thematic forums and held more than 700 business meetings.
The investment package includes two components with French companies, ranging from large corporations to mid-sized firms and SMEs, pledging €14 billion.
African entrepreneurs and investors announced an additional €9 billion in investments across the continent alongside the event.
Macron said the French share of the investments should support the creation of 250,000 direct jobs in Africa and France.
Proparco, the private-sector financing arm of the French Development Agency (AFD) and co-organizer of the forum, formed the financial backbone of the initiative.
The institution said it signed more than €500 million in agreements in Nairobi through 11 transactions, representing roughly half of its annual African commitment volume.
Two transactions dominated the package. Proparco signed a €300 million, three-year protocol agreement with Ecobank focused on agricultural value chains.
The institution also completed a €200 million cross-currency euro/CFA franc transaction with the West African Development Bank, which officials described as a world first.
In addition, Proparco agreed to a €300 million partnership over three years with AXIAN.
The lender also granted a $20 million loan to South African vaccine producer Biovac and signed agreements with SETRAG, Equity Group, CRDB Bank, Atlantic Group and Cauridor.
The summit marked the first time since 1973 that the Africa-France format took place in an English-speaking African country.
The choice of Nairobi reflects the French presidency’s effort to move beyond its traditional francophone sphere of influence as France reduces its military presence in the Sahel and faces mounting opposition to its influence in West Africa.
Kenya, which promotes itself as the “Silicon Savannah” and signed a defense agreement with France in April, emerged alongside Nigeria as a central pillar of France’s diversification strategy toward anglophone and fast-growing economies.
Nigeria sent a high-profile business delegation to Nairobi that included Aliko Dangote, Abdul Samad Rabiu and Tony Elumelu.
During his speech, Macron acknowledged that French companies had lost market share to China, Turkey, the United States and several African competitors.
He attributed the decline partly to what he described as a decade during which some French administrations and corporations behaved as though they operated on guaranteed territory.
“€23 billion of investment announced for the continent,” Macron said while praising companies including Orange, Canal+, bioMérieux and Castel.
Macron framed the summit as part of a decade-long repositioning of France’s relationship with Africa around “co-investment” and “equal partnership,” rather than the top-down approach associated with earlier summits.
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