France-Africa talks challenged on 'imperialism'
National
By
Macharia Kamau
| May 11, 2026
President William Ruto with French President Emmanuel Macron at State House, Nairobi. [PCS]
The high-profile Africa–France Summit set to take place in Nairobi on Monday and Tuesday has come under heavy criticism, with civil society organisations describing it as a re-engineering of imperialism.
A section of civil society and Pan-African lobby groups have organised a parallel counter-summit in Nairobi, opposing what they term France’s attempt to repackage neo-colonial influence under the guise of economic cooperation and development partnerships.
The Africa–France Summit, which will be attended by heads of state and about 1,500 delegates, is expected to focus on economic issues framed as being of mutual interest to Africa and France. These include reform of the global financial architecture, a subject President William Ruto has consistently championed. He has previously argued that global financial systems are outdated and must be reformed to become more equitable, independent and supportive of developing economies.
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Other issues on the agenda include renewal of the development agenda, green industrialisation and energy transition, the blue economy, sustainable agriculture, artificial intelligence and digital technologies, health, and peace and security.
However, civil society groups opposing the summit have organised a counter-summit titled the Pan-Africanism Summit Against Imperialism (PASAI) 2026, which will run alongside the main event co-chaired by President Ruto and French President Emmanuel Macron. “The France–Africa Summit is not a gesture of goodwill, nor a platform for equal partnership. It is a rebranded offensive of imperialist recolonisation, disguised behind the mask of environmental diplomacy and financial reform,” said organisers of the counter-summit.
They added that the summit comes in the wake of France’s military and diplomatic retreat from West Africa, where anti-imperialist movements led to the expulsion of foreign troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. According to them, “French imperialism is now turning to East Africa, with Kenya as its principal gateway.”
The Nairobi summit is the first of its kind to be held in a non-Francophone country and is expected to bring together African heads of state, government officials, business leaders, civil society representatives and private sector actors.
Organisers of PASAI said the summit signals France’s intent to reassert influence in Africa. “The summit is France’s way of announcing to the world that it is returning to its old hunting grounds for raw materials and natural resources, cheap labour for its investments, and returns on its loans,” they said.
PASAI 2026 organisers include the Communist Party of Kenya, the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party, the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (France), Communistes et Matérialistes and the PGP Institute. The counter-summit will feature webinars and seminars leading up to the main event at Ufungamano House in Nairobi, a venue associated with political activism and social justice movements in Kenya.
Ahead of the summit, Kenya and France signed a defence cooperation agreement setting the framework for the status and treatment of visiting French troops.
The lobby groups argue that while Kenya–France cooperation may benefit “big comprador capitalists, landlords and bureaucratic elites through business partnerships and opportunities for corruption, it will bring misery to African masses”.