France unveils $27 billion investment plan for Africa at Nairobi summit
French President Emmanuel Macron has announced a $27 billion (€23 billion) investment initiative focused on clean energy, digital technology, artificial intelligence, maritime development, and agriculture across Africa.
Macron made the announcement on Monday during the Africa Forward summit in Nairobi, a France-Africa forum aimed at strengthening economic and political relations between both regions.
According to Macron, €14 billion of the investment package will come from French public and private sector funding, while €9 billion will be contributed by African investors.
The two-day summit has attracted dozens of African leaders and business executives, including Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote. The event marks the first time France has hosted such a summit in an English-speaking African country.
Speaking at Nairobi’s convention centre, Macron said the investments are expected to generate about 250,000 direct jobs across Africa and France.
“We are not simply here to come and invest on the African continent alongside you — we need the great African business leaders to come and invest in France,” Macron said.
“And that too is what underpins this relationship, now entirely free of hang-ups.”
Ahead of the summit, Macron also urged African leaders to improve governance, arguing that colonialism should not be blamed for all of the continent’s current challenges.
“We must not exonerate from all responsibility the seven decades that followed independence,” he told AFP, adding that Europe’s former colonial powers “were not the predators of this century.”
