West African Juntas Skip France-Africa Summit in Nairobi as Paris Seeks Reset

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger skipped a France-backed Africa summit in Nairobi on Monday, underscoring deepening tensions between the military-led Sahel states and their former colonial ruler as Paris seeks to rebuild influence across the continent.

The three West African countries, all governed by military juntas, were absent from the Africa Forward Summit co-hosted by Kenya and France, the first such high-level France-Africa gathering to be held in an Anglophone African country.

French President Emmanuel Macron expressed regret over their absence, saying the summit was intended to foster broader dialogue between France and African nations at a time of shifting geopolitical alliances.

More than 30 African delegations attended the Nairobi meeting, which focused on investment, debt financing, artificial intelligence, climate projects and trade partnerships as African governments push for greater foreign investment and fairer financing terms.

The summit also reflected France’s efforts to reposition itself in Africa after a series of diplomatic and military setbacks in the Sahel, where anti-French sentiment has surged in recent years.

Relations between France and the three countries have deteriorated sharply since a wave of coups in the region between 2020 and 2023. The juntas accused Paris of interfering in domestic affairs and failing to contain Islamist insurgencies despite years of French military operations.

In response, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger severed defence cooperation agreements with France and ordered French troops to leave their territories, ending a decades-long military presence that had anchored Paris’ influence in West Africa.

The three countries have increasingly moved closer to Russia for military and political support while distancing themselves from Western allies and regional blocs viewed as aligned with France.

Their absence from the Nairobi summit highlighted the widening divide between France and parts of Francophone Africa even as Paris attempts to deepen engagement with other African economies, particularly in East Africa.

Kenyan President William Ruto used the summit to call for reforms in global financing systems, arguing that African countries continue to face punitive borrowing costs because of outdated perceptions of risk.

Macron has in recent years sought to reshape France’s Africa policy around business, innovation and youth partnerships rather than military ties, amid growing competition for influence on the continent from China, Russia, Turkey and Gulf states.

ligadwah@businessdayafrica.org