Kenya is internet hosting the Africa Ahead 2026 summit in partnership with France, the primary of its type held outdoors a Francophone nation.
The summit, which brings collectively African leaders and enterprise executives from throughout the continent and past, has sparked criticism at residence and overseas.
Since President William Ruto took workplace, Kenya has opened itself as much as partnerships with Western nations, positioning itself as probably the most secure and accessible nation within the area.
Nonetheless, France’s colonial previous continues to hang-out Paris because it has misplaced affect in a number of former colonies in West Africa.
In response, French President Emmanuel Macron turned to Kenya, a rustic identified for its openness to European funding.
So, what are the advantages and losses for both aspect of the Kenya-France partnership?
Defence cooperation
France and Kenya signed a defence cooperation settlement in April 2026. It was preceded by the arrival of 800 French troops in Kenya’s coastal metropolis of Mombasa for a joint coaching train with the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).
After the settlement’s signing, critics warned that Kenya might threat falling underneath the affect of a neo-colonial energy, citing France’s historical past of unequal partnerships in West Africa.
The automated five-year renewable deal contains partnerships in maritime safety, intelligence, peacekeeping and humanitarian help and catastrophe response. France has already deployed 600 army personnel to Kenya, with officers saying they’ll present coaching for KDF personnel.
The settlement grants French forces diplomatic-style immunity in Kenya and requires disputes to be resolved by diplomatic channels slightly than Kenyan courts.
It additionally permits convicted French personnel to serve sentences in France and provides Paris major jurisdiction over offences dedicated by its troopers on Kenyan soil.
Critics say the settlement favours France over Kenya and secures Paris’s strategic pursuits within the Western Indian Ocean, a key area for international delivery lanes, army positioning, and counterterrorism operations.
They have additionally warned that whereas Kenya has shortly ratified defence cooperation agreements with 5 nations, China, Zimbabwe, the Czech Republic, Ethiopia, and France, it might threat coming underneath the affect of neo-colonial powers, which can intrude in its financial and political affairs and considerably undermine the nation’s sovereignty.
France has additionally been accused of undermining African leaders, with Macron going through condemnation after saying African leaders within the Sahel forgot to say thanks to France.
“None of them [Sahel countries] could be a sovereign nation right this moment if the French military had not deployed within the area,” Macron instructed French ambassadors in Paris in January 2025.
Chatting with Al Jazeera, Kenyan politician Nelson Koech, who can be the chair of the Nationwide Meeting Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence, and International Relations, denied that France has been granted immunity.
“It’s fully unfaithful… we now have mentioned crimes like homicide should be tried in Kenya,” he said.
“It doesn’t imply that as a result of the French have had a foul relationship with West Africa, we can not have a partnership with them. France has continued to assist Kenya, not solely on this settlement but additionally in numerous initiatives on this nation,” Koech added.
Koech additionally mentioned {that a} defence cooperation settlement doesn’t imply that French forces deployed to Kenya shall be within the nation completely. Nonetheless, sources in parliament instructed Al Jazeera that France has been pushing so as to add a everlasting troop presence in Kenya.
What does all sides achieve from partnership?
For France, Kenya affords political stability, financial alternatives, and strategic entry to the Western Indian Ocean. For Kenya, the partnership guarantees funding, infrastructure improvement, safety cooperation, and elevated worldwide affect.
France is at present Kenya’s fourth-largest international direct funding associate. In keeping with Kenyan authorities knowledge, Kenya is the most important shopper of French merchandise in East Africa. Right now, France ranks among the many largest buyers in Kenya, having invested 1.8 billion euros ($2.1bn) over the previous decade.
As of 2026, at the least 140 French corporations function in Kenya, up from 40 in 2013, displaying rising curiosity within the Kenyan financial system. In March 2026, Enterprise France East Africa, the French company selling enterprise ventures between French corporations and East Africa, in partnership with the French Chamber of Commerce in Kenya, launched a enterprise information to assist French buyers navigate alternatives in Kenya.
France can be the fifth-largest supplier of international direct funding in Kenya, supporting about 46,000 direct jobs.
For Kenya, army and defence engagement with France enhances current safety agreements with nations just like the UK and the US, who each keep bases in Kenya. It’s seen as advantageous for Kenya’s counterterrorism efforts in opposition to threats equivalent to al-Shabab
Critics argue that whereas French companies have quick access to the Kenyan market and French nationals have visa-free entry to Kenya, Kenyan residents aren’t afforded the identical privileges, casting doubt on whether or not the partnership is actually equal.
Patricia Rodrigues, the Africa director on the Management Dangers consulting agency, instructed Al Jazeera that each African and European authorities more and more search equal and mutually helpful bilateral partnerships.
“Neither aspect is seeking to be free from the affect of the opposite,” she defined. “The aim is to deepen strategic financial ties in a turbulent commerce and geopolitical context. Each side wish to transfer away from fashions that prioritise the export of uncooked supplies from Africa for processing overseas and away from aid-based relationships that create dependency.”
Rodrigues added that France, underneath Macron, is raring to strengthen ties with East and Southern Africa after going through rising anti-French sentiment in West Africa, notably within the Sahel. Kenya’s place as a hub for Japanese Africa makes it a strategic entry level for France within the area, she mentioned.
“For Kenya, army and defence engagement with France enhances current safety agreements with nations just like the UK and the US, who each keep bases in Kenya. It’s seen as advantageous for Kenya’s counterterrorism efforts in opposition to threats equivalent to al-Shabab,” Rodrigues mentioned, referring to the Somalia-based armed group.
Potential turning level
The France-Kenya summit is anticipated to mark a big turning level in relations between the 2 nations and, probably, in France’s engagement with Anglophone Africa.
With rising French funding, increasing army cooperation, and deepening diplomatic engagement, each nations appear decided to strengthen ties at a time when international powers are competing for affect in Africa.
Nonetheless, the summit is prone to intensify debate over sovereignty, accountability, and whether or not the connection is actually balanced. Since 2024, Kenya has confronted lethal waves of political unrest, with residents protesting in opposition to President Ruto’s unpopular insurance policies, together with crackdowns on demonstrations and restrictions on press freedom.
If Kenya have been to permit French forces everlasting residence within the nation, this might additional inflame tensions, as the federal government braces for potential protests forward of the nation’s funds season.
Kenyan politician Caleb Hamisi instructed Al Jazeera that the defence settlement leaves Kenya weak as a proxy in worldwide disputes, and has grow to be extremely unpopular amongst Kenyans.
He pointed to the danger that international forces stationed within the nation might contain Kenya in army operations or disputes that serve the strategic pursuits of different powers, slightly than Kenya’s nationwide priorities.
“Kenya has borne the brunt of worldwide military-interstate relations that usually current her as a proxy floor, and thus, inclined to collateral warfare harm,” Hamisi mentioned.
In keeping with him, the presence of French forces in West Africa posed a safety menace and a unilateral profit to France, with little tangible achieve for the host nation. He mentioned that the parliament ought to fastidiously look at disputed clauses in earlier defence agreements with main powers.
“It’s incumbent upon the drafters of the settlement and the Kenyan plenipotentiary [negotiator] to think about contentious clauses in earlier DCAs [defence cooperation agreements] with army superpowers earlier than committing Kenya to a global defence settlement,” Hamisi instructed Al Jazeera.
The success of this partnership might subsequently rely on whether or not future agreements ship mutual profit, transparency, and respect for Kenya’s nationwide pursuits, slightly than creating one other chapter of international affect in Africa, disguised as cooperation.
