French President Emmanuel Macron announced new investments in Africa as a partnership summit closed on Tuesday in Kenya with calls for mutual respect and new, revamped ties that France hopes to build with the continent.
Macron said the Africa Forward Summit marked a financial shift in relations between France and African nations, including those that were once its colonies. Kenya, which was not a French colony, co-hosted the gathering with France.
Investments worth 23 billion euros ($27 billion) will fund various sectors in Africa, including energy, artificial intelligence and agriculture, Macron said, adding that 14 billion euros ($16.4 billion) will come from French companies and 9 billion euros ($10.5 billion) from African entities.
Kenyan President William Ruto mentioned the word sovereignty eight times in his speech Tuesday.
New partnerships between the African nations and France “must not be built on dependency but on sovereign equality, not on aid or charity but on mutually beneficial investment, and
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