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French President Emmanuel Macron has said that he has never considered Francophone Africa as France’s “pré carré” (private hunting ground), declaring that era over as he arrived in Kenya for the inaugural Africa-France Summit.
In a short video shared online on Monday, Macron said his position has been consistent since a 2017 speech in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
“I have never taken Francophone Africa as being precisely a pré carré [private hunting ground/backyard]. And it is from November 2017 that I said this in the Ouagadougou speech. There is simply the will to say: ‘Africa is a whole,'” Macron said.
“We are the true pan-Africanists. We believe that Africa is a continent. And this continent has a lot to build. It is the youngest in the world. It therefore has an extraordinary demographic dividend. It is the one with the highest growth in the world.”
Je crois à un partenariat équilibré entre l’Afrique et la France. C’est le sens de la transformation que nous menons depuis 10 ans. On continue, en avant ! pic.twitter.com/LPtcGaucia
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) May 11, 2026
Macron said France must change how it views Africa.
“Indeed, it is a continent that I no longer want France to look at from one side as being a pré carré where business leaders would somehow have all the rights or contracts guaranteed to them because it was Francophone Africa. Or sometimes some considered that France gave a form of guaranteed insurance, whatever happened, by being there to make and unmake governments. It is over. Since 2017, this era is finished,” he said.
Macron arrived in Kenya on Sunday ahead of the inaugural Africa-France Summit scheduled to begin on Monday, 11th May 2026.
He will co-host the summit alongside Kenyan President William Ruto, underscoring the growing partnership between Africa and France.
Upon arrival, the French head of state was received by the Prime Cabinet Secretary and the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Musalia Mudavadi. –The summit is themed “#AfricaForward.”
