France seeks stronger partnership with Africa

Mr. Nicolas Forissier, France’s Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness, says France is eager to build a win-win partnership with Africa to secure a more reliable future for younger and unborn generations.

Forissier spoke on the sidelines of the 2026 Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, themed: “Africa Forward: Partnerships between Africa and France for Innovation and Growth.’’

Forissier described the summit as a success, saying the attendance surpassed expectations. According to him, organisers projected between 3,000 and 4,000 participants, but over 7,000 people attended the business forum alone, including African and French chief executives.

He said that the summit was attended by high level individuals as well as many companies providing great opportunities for business contacts to be made.

”I must say I was very impressed by the unique spirit and enthusiasm displayed throughout the summit. Real friendship was formed and wiliness to build together and I got many contacts that I will follow-up on as part of my job, so it is a success. We have investments to the tune of 23 billion euros of which the French side has 14 billion euros while for the African side, it is 9 billion euros. Some of the investment areas in Africa are; infrastructure, transport, energy, health, agriculture, food industry and digital technology and we are optimistic that in the next 20 years Africa will double its population,” he said.

The minister said that France remained committed to collaborating with African youth to build a sustainable legacy for future generations.

“We have to work and multiply the meetings and part of my job is to build partnership as we are not here to sell but by implementing these partnership that will create job opportunities and activities for both continents because it is beneficial to all parties,’’ he said.

Also speaking on the sidelines of the summit, President of Dangote Industries, Mr Aliko Dangote said that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery was undergoing expansion from 650,000 barrels per day to 1.4 million barrels per day by 2028.

“We are working at full capacity, the refinery is heading towards 700,000 barrels per day, currently in Nigeria, we are going to 1.4 million barrels per day which will be completed in 2028 and we are doing petrochemical expansion and others as well. Right now we have gone into deep discussions with the countries here and I am going round to see them and once we sign an agreement, this refinery of 650 thousand with a million tonnes of polypropylene will start this year. It is important for African countries to have refining infrastructure because we export 100 per cent of all our crude and then we import, so we are always at the mercy of the market and it is not good”

“What we want to make sure is to change from exporting our raw materials and importing finished goods. This is because when you export you get five to 20 per cent of the value and then end up sweating to go and import the finished product, so we want to stop that not only in refining but in many other sectors. I think for some of the countries that are not producing oil, it is very tough for them but it is not only on the oil because we have the majority which are the farmers, and now fertilizer has gone up by almost double the price,” he said.

He said that the times were currently difficult for African farmers to afford all the necessary farm inputs adding that most governments were heavily indebted and could no longer keep giving subsidies on farm inputs.

He called for a diplomatic resolution between Iran and the the United States noting that the ongoing tensions were having severe economic consequences globally.