France courts English in Africa: Is Macron late in joining the scramble for Mother Continent?

With the two-day Africa Forward Summit, President Emmanuel Macron is pitching a new model of partnership between France and African nations.

Macron, who is co-hosting the event with Kenyan President William Ruto, is expected to be joined at the summit by around 30 heads of state.

The summit marks Macron’s bid to build new partnerships in Africa as France’s influence in the Francophone region —the former French colonies where French is spoken— has waned in recent years. In West Africa, at least six countries have either expelled French military personnel or sharply reduced deployments in recent years.

By reaching out to English-speaking African countries that France did not colonise, Macron is looking to forge fresh partnerships without the historical baggage that has weighed down ties with Francophone nations. He has pitched this as a “partnership with equals”.

Macron has already signed a defence agreement with Kenya, under which around 800 French troops have been deployed to the country.

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Has France’s push come too late?

By pivoting to East African nations that do not carry historical baggage, Macron is not only seeking new partnerships but also moving into a region that is becoming increasingly strategic.

A presence in East Africa also gives France access to vital supply chains running through the Indian Ocean and the ability to position personnel on the ground should action be required. The pivot is driven as much by economic interests as by strategic and defence considerations.

France has reportedly offered business deals, investments, and new partnership agreements to nations attending the summit.

Whether France ultimately deepens its footprint in Africa or the summit ends up being reduced to tokenism remains to be seen. For one, Kenya already has defence deals with the United States, the United Kingdom, China, the Czech Republic, and Italy.

Unlike West African nations, Kenya has long sought to benefit from security cooperation, intelligence sharing, and economic advantages that come with hosting foreign troops and entering into defence partnerships. Kenya is only the third African nation to be designated a “major non-Nato ally” of the United States and remains one of the largest recipients of US security assistance. It also hosts British troops on its soil.

But as the United States has largely withdrawn from Africa under President Donald Trump, France now has more manoeuvring room on the continent.

China and Russia also have longstanding footprints in Africa. While China has aggressively pushed into the continent over the past 15–20 years, bringing countries into the fold of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Russia has engaged in conflicts across the region through mercenary forces. With France seeking deeper engagement, the direction of Africa’s geopolitical churn remains to be seen.