Africa Forward Summit: France Turning to Anglophone to Revive its Influence

News:

France held a two-day the Africa Forward Summit on 11-12 May 2026 in Nairobi (Kenya) ended with the Nairobi Declaration aimed at France's reshaping of economic ties with Africa, strengthening industrial growth and offering Africa a greater voice in the global financial and political systems.

Comment:

The summit attended by nearly 30 heads of state, international organizations and more than 1,500 business executives.

France announced a commitment to invest $27bn (£20bn) in Africa in areas, such as energy, digital, artificial intelligence, the maritime economy and agriculture.

President Macron said “Africa is the youngest continent in the world ... and it needs investment to become more independent," he added, "We are not here just to invest in Africa with you - we need African business leaders to invest in France," The summit met with anti-imperialism protesters and detractors, some even burnt French flags. Macron sparked backlash inside the venue after boasted that France was among the “true Pan-Africanists”.

It has taken 10 years for the first France-Africa summit to be hosted outside France or Francophone Africa. This is the result of desperate measure for France to revive its influence beyond her traditional strongholds.

Paris position has weakened and its sphere of influence experiences harsh reality and changes by being kicked out and taken over by American hegemony.

It has been largely expelled from Francophone countries on the continent, especially Sahelian states, where military juntas have ousted Paris-friendly civilian governments turning to America.

This summit at Anglophone country in broad sense is French rescuing mission after losing its influence in West Africa, especially mineral wealthy strongholds such as Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.

Paris has no choice but to come up with strategy of showing cunning humility in other part of Africa with the aim of neo colonizing, plundering and exploiting African resources.

This scenario indicates the failure of the capitalist ideology and its colonial greediness of developing nations natural resources. Above all, the shame side of this situation is upon our Ummah that has bestowed with alternative strong ideology of Islam that can radically stop and remove capitalism and its exploitation from Muslim lands and others. In the absence of Islam under its Khilafah (Caliphate) state, some developing states are completely submissive to colonial powers not willingly, but in some cases because they are being imposed harsh terms or because there is no alternate powerful state to rely upon.
While capitalist colonial powers undergoing all signs of decline, time is up for Muslims to re-establish Khilafah Rashidah (rightly guided Caliphate) State to save the Muslim Ummah and weak developing nations.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Masoud Msellem
Media Representative of Hizb ut Tahrir in Tanzania