Africa Forward Summit: Time for Action, Investment and Real Partnerships

By Victor Bwire

The first of its kind, the French are hosting a continental meeting on Anglophone soil to explore growth and partnership opportunities. The summit reflects a renewed and forward-looking partnership between Africa and France, grounded in mutual respect, shared responsibility, and a clear commitment to delivering tangible outcomes.

It will be disappointing if the summit fails to crack this routine workshopping syndrome, where high-level meetings of such nature end with empty rhetoric and nothing practical to take home, yet a lot is at stake for Africa.

The convening will bring together over 30 Heads of State and Government, approximately 4,000 delegates, and 2,000 private companies and top CEOs, positioning Nairobi as a major diplomatic, investment, and media hub for the continent.

With huge agricultural and circular economy potential to feed the world, the largest number of technological start-ups that fail to take off, and being consumers of externally developed solutions that have left it begging all the time, Africa needs to rise and actualize the innovation capabilities it possesses. Current development approaches are working to the disadvantage of Africa.

The Africa Forward Summit is a unique high-level session for Heads of State, African Union leadership, various industry captains, and investors that promises to showcase the immense potential that lies within the continent and what is required to unlock the investments, partnerships, and financing frameworks needed to scale these opportunities sustainably and inclusively.

Discussions will center on the need for practical recommendations and an implementation matrix on energy transition and green industrialization, reform of the international financial architecture, particularly on how to mobilize private capital for developing the continent, the blue economy, sustainable agriculture and food security, artificial intelligence and digital technologies, and resilient health systems, including a focus on local production of vaccines and medicines.

The summit presents an opportunity to highlight the commitment of France, Kenya, and other African countries to stepping up mutual investment and to building and financing tangible solutions to common challenges, including health system strengthening, food sovereignty, digital competitiveness, energy access, and connectivity.

Planned for May 11–12, 2026, in Nairobi under the theme “Africa–France Partnerships for Innovation and Growth,” and co-hosted by President William Ruto and French President Emmanuel Macron, summit discussions and recommendations will focus on newly found partnership models for development that promise to prioritize Africa-led solutions to the problems facing the continent.

The solution-based discussions will focus on unlocking capital, scaling innovation, deepening trade and investment linkages, and creating inclusive growth pathways that are resilient and sustainable. Development models that respect and value African input, prioritization of issues, and solutions that do not disadvantage the continent in its relationship with external partners are critical.

Hopefully, as co-hosts of the summit, Kenya and France will, in addition to providing a platform that enables alignment between policy, capital, and innovation, make a difference by catalyzing partnerships that deliver results enduring beyond the summit.

It is time development discussions shifted from endless workshopping and bold recommendations to the actual operationalization of grand ideas.

Earlier summits have taken place with little coming out of them, including the GES 2015 led by Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta and Barack Obama in Nairobi, and the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in 2016, the first held in Africa, among others.

Such events as the Africa Forward Summit are significant in the country’s efforts not only to improve its image and showcase its potential as a business and tourist destination, but also to increase its credibility among the community of nations as a serious place to invest in.

As the media plays its development role, it may also be helpful in creating awareness of Kenya's offerings, attracting high-quality tourists, while growing and developing mutually beneficial relationships with key players in the global hospitality space. Those with information need to share it proactively with the media so that the media carries major stories about them, which further enhances the country’s positive image.

That Kenya is East Africa's commercial hub needs to be highlighted. The fact that Kenya is home to some of the finest athletes needs massive exposure. That Kenya is a stepping stone to the EAC and COMESA markets needs a top-of-mind presence. That Kenya has one of the highest concentrations of universities must come to the fore.

Victor Bwire is the Director, Media Training and Development at the Media Council of Kenya.