France pledges €23B to Africa to counter China’s growing influence

France, through President Emmanuel Macron, has announced a €23 billion ($26.7 billion) investment package aimed at Africa's private sector, positioning it as a strategic counterweight to China's growing influence on the continent. Speaking at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, co-hosted with Kenya, Macron framed the investment as a "jolt" to reset France's relations with African nations and promote Europe as a partner for Africa's "strategic autonomy." The summit deliberately bypassed the historic "Françafrique" model of neocolonial ties, instead focusing on Anglophone countries like Kenya where France has traditionally had less influence. This comes after France lost significant ground in the Sahel region, where coups and anti-French sentiment in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger led those countries to pivot toward China and Russia.

Analysts view the move as "strategic hedging" by Paris, acknowledging that China's deep-rooted infrastructure investments and focus on development needs have already reshaped the continent's external power balance. Sanusha Naidu, a senior research associate at the Institute for Global Dialogue in Cape Town, noted the symbolic shift. Macron explicitly criticized China's "predatory logic," contrasting it with France's new approach of investing in private sector growth rather than government loans or resource extraction. The €23 billion commitment, however, still pales in comparison to China's massive Belt and Road Initiative spending across Africa. The summit's success depends on whether France can translate this financial pledge into lasting partnerships that genuinely empower African economies without the historical baggage of colonial-style intervention.