Kenya is positioning itself as a vital conduit for African economic priorities to enter global governance dialogues in preparation for the G7 Summit in Evian, France.
This follows African leaders officially requesting Kenya, along with France, to carry the continent’s issues from the Africa-France Summit to the June 15-17 forum.
Via the Call to Action document from the Nairobi Declaration released at the Africa Forward Summit, African Heads of State and Government urged international financial institutions to better consider the vulnerabilities of African nations facing conflicts, climate impacts, and structural development challenges.
“We call on France, working with Kenya, which has G7 association status, to present this critical African concern to the Evian Summit in June 2026,” the Call to Action document stated.
The gathering included African representatives from over 30 countries, French President Emmanuel Macron, and senior officials from major international financial institutions.
These institutions comprised the IMF, World Bank Group, African Development Bank, European Investment Bank, the Green Climate Fund, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The summit occurred amid growing geopolitical tensions, featuring persistent conflicts in the Middle East, worldwide economic instability, and growing divisions in trade and financial systems.
African leaders cautioned that these pressures are intensifying structural weaknesses across supply chains, energy markets, and food security systems across the continent.
In their declaration, leaders emphasized that Africa stands at a pivotal economic juncture, characterized by both opportunities and structural limitations.
They highlighted the necessity of transforming rapid population growth into a demographic dividend through employment generation, industrialization, and value addition.
They emphasized ongoing reliance on raw material exports, increasing sovereign debt levels, limited economic diversification, and expanding development financing gaps as primary threats to Africa’s long-term development.
The effects of global macroeconomic imbalances and unfair trade practices were underscored.
These factors are impeding industrialization across the continent by depressing commodity prices, deterring investment, and reducing the competitiveness of emerging African industries, according to African leaders.
The declaration advocated for a stronger, rules-based, fair, and inclusive multilateral trading system, and called on major economies to align macroeconomic policies to reduce structural imbalances and promote sustainable global growth.
It also requested improved international financial oversight, especially by the IMF, to track global imbalances and facilitate coordinated corrective measures, along with reforms that better address the vulnerabilities of developing and climate-affected economies.
The selection of Kenya, an English-speaking nation that replaced South Africa at Washington’s suggestion, indicates a significant strategic shift by Paris.
Besides hosting the summit, Nairobi is increasingly viewed not just as a new G7 participant but as the spokesperson for African interests at the forum.
Foreign Affairs PS Korir Sing’oei contends that France selected Kenya due to its reputation as “a bridge builder, a consensus builder, and mobiliser” across the continent.
“Considering Kenya’s significant role on the continent, France believed that to advance Africa’s representation, Kenya could perform as effectively as South Africa,” he stated.
This substantially elevates Kenya to a mediator position between Africa and the G7 framework.
It also reflects an evolving structure in France’s Africa diplomacy, featuring a more networked strategy that integrates selected African partners into global agenda-setting initiatives.
Furthermore, it demonstrates a diversification of African representation approaches, transitioning from traditional continental allies to a broader range of communication partners.
Essentially, the Nairobi declaration establishes Kenya as a primary channel for conveying African economic messages to G7 deliberations.
Nevertheless, this has raised suggestions that Kenya facilitated a divide-and-rule strategy by not aligning with South Africa.
Sing’oei, however, maintained that South Africa is not a G7 member, and therefore “does not, by right, have to be the one representing Africa in G7 discussions”.
“The host has the freedom to select any country, and in this instance, Kenya was chosen. This summit was partially convened to assist Africa in developing a unified position for the G7 dialogue,” he stated on Wednesday.