French President Emmanuel Macron begins a high-stakes Africa tour Saturday, seeking to repair France’s frayed influence across a rapidly shifting continent.
Macron will visit Kenya, Egypt and Ethiopia while promoting a renewed French partnership with African nations.
In Nairobi, Macron will co-host the Africa Forward summit, gathering political leaders and business executives beneath growing geopolitical competition.
The French presidency described the summit as a turning point designed to deepen investment, economic cooperation and ties with English-speaking African countries.
Paris hopes the gathering will showcase Macron’s Africa policy before his presidency ends next year, diplomats said ahead of the visit.
France faces mounting hostility across several former colonies, where Russian and Chinese influence has steadily expanded during recent political upheavals.
French troops withdrew from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger after military coups pushed ruling juntas closer toward Moscow.
Critics argue Macron underestimated growing anti-French sentiment, accusing Paris of clinging to shadows cast by its colonial past.
Analyst Amaka Anku said France’s declining influence in the Sahel long preceded Macron, calling the erosion deeply rooted and inherited.
Still, Macron attempted to widen France’s reach into anglophone Africa, seeking fresh alliances beyond traditional French-speaking partners.
Africa expert Niagale Bagayoko expressed doubt that meaningful change could emerge before Macron leaves office.
She said many Africans still view Macron as paternalistic, weighed down by unresolved colonial memories and diplomatic missteps.
Ahead of the tour, France approved legislation easing the return of colonial-era artworks, another symbolic gesture toward historical reconciliation.
Macron will also meet Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Alexandria before holding talks in Addis Ababa with African Union officials and UN chief Antonio Guterres.