Emmanuel Macron Interrupts Africa Forward Summit Panel In Kenya, Demands Audience Silence

French President Emmanuel Macron faced backlash after interrupting a panel at the Africa Forward Summit in Kenya to demand silence from the audience.

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Macron stormed the stage to rebuke audience members for what he called a “total lack of respect,” accusing them of disrupting speakers during a presentation by artists and young entrepreneurs.

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At the summit in Nairobi, videos of Macron’s heated intervention spread across social media as he asked the speaker to hand him the microphone and said he would “restore order.”

The summit is meant to showcase France’s policy of a “partnership of equals” with the African continent, and it closed on Tuesday with a declaration signed by all 30 heads of state.

Thierno Mbaye, a history student at a university in Senegal’s capital, Dakar, said Macron “acted like a schoolteacher scolding children,” framing the interruption as a paternalistic gesture.

Macron’s intervention came alongside a major investment announcement at the Africa Forward Summit, where he said he would invest €23 billion (£19.8bn) into various African industries including energy, artificial intelligence and agriculture.

In Nairobi, Macron also told heads of state and leaders of more than 30 African nations that the “partnership of equals” would be backed by 14 billion euros ($16.4bn) of investments in private and public funds from French companies and 9 billion euros ($10.5bn) from African ones.

Al Jazeera

Criticism in France followed the interruption, with Daniele Obono, a lawmaker for left-wing party France Unbowed, saying, “It’s stronger than him. As soon as he sets foot on the African continent, he can’t help but behave like a coloniser,” in a post on social media.

Thierno Mbaye compared the moment to how an African leader would be treated elsewhere, saying, “Just imagine what would happen if an African leader did the same thing in America or Europe.”

The backlash also played out against the summit’s broader messaging, with Macron describing himself as a “Pan-Africanist” during a news conference and the summit’s aim of moving away from a former colonial power exerting influence toward equal partnership.

As Macron tried to rebuild France’s role on the continent, The Guardian described the Africa Forward summit as an effort to rebuild France’s role after setbacks in its former colonies, with more than 30 heads of state and government meeting in Nairobi.

“Macron faces backlash after interrupting Africa summit panel in Kenya French President Emmanuel Macron gave a telling off to a noisy audience during a presentation at the University of Nairobi”

Associated Press

The Guardian reported that Macron said Paris would be respectful of each African country’s independence, adding that “sovereignty and autonomy is shared, and your success is our success,” while also saying “the days of offering assistance are behind us.”

Kenya’s President William Ruto, in remarks at the summit, said, “We should no longer think in terms of aid and loans, but rather in terms of investment and what Africa has to offer,” and he referred to sovereignty eight times in his speech.

The BBC said Macron repeatedly spoke of “co-investment” and “equal footing partnerships” as he described shared challenges including security, economic dependence and geopolitical competition.

In parallel, the BBC quoted Kenyan Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi calling it an “opportunity for Africa to start speaking as one,” arguing that holding the summit in a non-French-speaking African country was a “very, very big message” against engagements based on official languages.