{"id":979313,"date":"2026-05-23T06:07:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T06:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/979313\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T06:07:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T06:07:18","slug":"as-france-tries-to-reset-relations-with-africa-chinas-influence-looms-large","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/979313\/","title":{"rendered":"As France tries to reset relations with Africa, China\u2019s influence looms large"},"content":{"rendered":"<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">France has committed \u20ac23 billion (US$26.7 billion) to Africa\u2019s private sector in a bid to counter Chinese dominance and rebuild its influence on the continent.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking at the <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/world\/africa\/article\/3353386\/french-presidents-onstage-outburst-kenya-overshadows-africa-bid?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Africa Forward Summit<\/a> in Nairobi earlier this month, President Emmanuel Macron pitched the investment as a \u201cjolt\u201d to reset relations, positioning Europe as a partner for Africa\u2019s \u201cstrategic autonomy\u201d as the geopolitical race with <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/topics\/china-africa-relations?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Beijing<\/a> heats up.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The move marks a major shift as Paris tries to win over anglophone countries such as Kenya after losing ground in the Sahel, where coups and anti-French sentiment have seen Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger cut ties in favour of Beijing and Moscow.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">By co-hosting the summit with Kenya, Macron bypassed the historical baggage of \u201cFran\u00e7afrique\u201d and challenged what he described as China\u2019s \u201cpredatory logic\u201d.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Analysts said Beijing\u2019s deep roots in infrastructure and focus on development needs had already changed the continent\u2019s external power balance.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"President Emmanuel Macron announced \u20ac23 billion of investment during the summit. Photo: AFP\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/a564a187-9898-44b4-b4ba-ecc2c8e78b2a_686e78c9.jpg\" title=\"President Emmanuel Macron announced \u20ac23 billion of investment during the summit. Photo: AFP\"\/>President Emmanuel Macron announced \u20ac23 billion of investment during the summit. Photo: AFP<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Sanusha Naidu, a senior research associate at the Institute for Global Dialogue in Cape Town, described the summit as a form of \u201cstrategic hedging\u201d and said it marked a symbolic shift.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"France has committed \u20ac23 billion (US$26.7 billion) to Africa\u2019s private sector in a bid to counter Chinese dominance&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":979314,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5309],"tags":[2740,3801,2742,1395,18333,2000,299,36,10544,2743,2301,139772,2744,1411,332,43409],"class_list":["post-979313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-france","tag-africa","tag-beijing","tag-burkina-faso","tag-china","tag-democratic-republic-of-congo","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-france","tag-kenya","tag-mali","tag-moscow","tag-nairobi","tag-niger","tag-paris","tag-russia","tag-sahel"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/979313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=979313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/979313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/979314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=979313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=979313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=979313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}