Desperate times call for desperate measures for French President Emmanuel Macron, who has no permanent presence in either West or Central Africa. He is headed to Kenya for the first Africa Forward summit with English-speaking African countries.

The one-time colonial power with no permanent presence in either West or Central Africa is scheduled to attend the theme Africa Forward.

France is participating in this year’s Africa–France Summit not as a powerful partner any longer, but as a country that is fast losing its foothold in Africa. Its control on the continent is diminishing — especially in the Sahel — and it has little legitimacy in today’s Africa.

“France’s pretty prose of ‘mutual cooperation’ and ‘shared development’ no longer hides its ruthless ambition to partner with Africa solely for resource extraction and geopolitical presence. There is little respect for Africa’s sovereignty.”

“France is desperately trying to reconfigure its engagements in Africa in order to relocate its military bases and continue its brutal pursuit of critical minerals - not out of love or respect for the wellbeing of Africa or Africans,” according to author and political analyst Kim Heller.

As this summit unfolds, African leaders must be vigilant, Heller said, adding that the "footprint of France on the continent remains one of coercion, economic plunder, and structural suppression of African self-determination. It continues to use the same playbook in the post-independence era.”

“France’s stature is waning in the continent and globally. It is imperative that African leaders stop being pawns in the imperialistic games of foreign nations and begin to determine the playing field, the rules, and the desired outcomes. If France cannot acquiesce to the principles of equitability and respect for African sovereignty, it should not be a partner of choice.”

“African leaders must take the lead," she added.

France has lost both economic and military influence over the years- Africa accounted for only 1.9% of France’s foreign trade, 15% of its supply of strategic minerals, and 11.6% of its oil and gas supply.

To make matters worse, France’s top two trading partners in sub-Saharan Africa are Nigeria and South Africa – former British colonies which have never hosted a French military base.

With Macron having withdrawn South African invitation for the G7 June meeting in France to favour Kenya, President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to skip the upcoming Nairobi Summit.

In the Summit, French Ambassador Alexis Lamek in Kenya admitted that the summit must address the issues around restitution and reparations that have been central to the African Union’s agenda.

In 2024, French troops exited Senegal by end of 2025 ending the French army’s 65-year presence in Senegal and came after similar withdrawals across the continent as former colonies increasingly turned their backs on the nation that once ruled them.

France’s withdrawal from Senegal also came as the Sahel region faced growing anti-French sentiments. The political changes across Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger made things worse for French neo colonial domination in the Gulf of Guinea nations.

After gaining independence in 1960, Senegal became one of France’s staunchest African allies, playing host to French troops throughout its history.After storming to victory in elections in 2024 by promising dramatic change, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye demanded France withdraw its soldiers by 2025.

But not only that, Faye demanded France to apologise for colonial atrocities, including the massacre on December 1, 1944, of dozens of African troops who had fought for France in World War II.

The winds of change spread across Africa with progressive governments increasingly questioning France’s military presence forcing Paris to close or reduce the numbers of its soldiers at bases across its former empire.

In February last year, France handed back its sole remaining base in Ivory Coast, ending decades of French presence there.

The month before, France turned over the Kossei base in Chad, its last military foothold in the Sahel region.

Coups in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali from 2020 to 2023 have swept military strongmen to power. Their governments have collectively ejected 4,300 French soldiers. All three countries have cut ties with France and turned to Russia instead for help in fighting the Sahel’s decade-long unrest.

The Central African Republic, also a former French colony, has likewise demanded a French pullout.

Meanwhile, the French army has turned its base in Gabon into a camp shared with its Central African host.

Only the tiny Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti will be home to a permanent French army base after withdrawal. France intends to make that base with about 1,500 people its military headquarters for Africa.

According to a research associate at the Institut Français des Relations Internationales and an expert on the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime Thierry Vircoulon it is important to distinguish between countries that have chosen to sever military cooperation agreements with Paris (such as Chad and Senegal) and those that have simply closed military bases but maintained the military cooperation (like Ivory Coast).

"The announcement of base closures by African leaders, rather than by Paris, symbolises a rejection of French policy. This marks a significant loss of influence for France in the countries involved," Vircoulon.

Macron forced to adapt

In a 2017 speech in Ouagadougou, Macron said French policy toward Africa had undergone a fundamental change, stating that “there no longer is a French policy for Africa.” He claimed French "sought partnerships that were not based primarily on historical or linguistic ties and did not automatically prioritise French-speaking countries.

“We reviewed, and rightly so, our military bases. removed the military component that was no longer understood by countries and by younger generations”, while rebuilding “relevant” partnerships, notably in Benin."

Many in Africa said it is not true to say that it was France that decided to withdraw. France was forced to adapt to new realities.

France is seeking to expand relations with English-speaking African countries, moving beyond its traditional francophone partners.

“This is driven both by political considerations but above all the desire to gain market share and bring added value to the French economy,” according to a Nigerien academic specialising in the Sahel Seidik Abba, contesting the idea that France drove these changes.

Security analyst Emmanuel Dupuy puts it more directly when he said “France is very poorly equipped – perhaps even completely disarmed – to be credible in this region of the world.”

Macron’s Africa policy has come under scrutiny for its uneven response to military coups.

A recent opinion piece in Benin's La Nouvelle Tribune accused Macron of double standards in taking a hard line against juntas in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, while being more accommodating toward coup leaders in Gabon, Guinea, and Chad. The writer said France’s selective approach undermines its democratic discourse and fuels anti-French sentiment.

Dupuy acknowledges the double standard, but argues that not all coups should be treated the same.

He suggests that the succession of Mahamat Déby in Chad in 2021 was a power transfer tacitly tolerated by France, rather than a putsch, and that military takeovers in Gabon and Guinea followed deeply contested electoral processes rather than explicit ruptures with Paris.

Nairobi PR Africa Forward

While France is “in a phase of decline” on the African continent, Macron will certainly use the Nairobi Summit to fight what he called a “battle of narratives”.

“We must not lose this battle,” Macron said, adding that French interests were also defended through countering disinformation and responding to accusations that France represented a new colonial power. Such narratives, he said, often drew on “anti-colonial”, “anti-European” and “anti-French” discourse and required a more robust response.

Whatever Macron plans doing in Nairobi, the idea of a dominant French influence has sold itself by the past.