Presidents Emmanuel Macron and William Ruto opened the summit with a special session with African young people from all over the continent.
11/05/2026
10/05/2026
French Tech Nairobi
Kenya's technology sector is booming, driven by digital innovation and artificial intelligence.
To tap into that growth, the French Embassy has launched French Tech Nairobi - a dedicated hub supporting local start-ups and new businesses, with ambitions to extend that backing across the wider continent:
The 'Africa Forward' summit opens on Monday 11 May 2026 in Nairobi
The summit has been named 'Africa Forward – Partnerships between Africa and France for Innovation and Growth Summit'. It invites the French and African business communities, for the very first time, in an event co-organised with an Anglophone country.
More soon!
09/05/2026
Africa Forward Fest @ Alliance Française Nairobi
Africa Forward Fest is the cultural festival organised at l'Alliance Française de Nairobi - the French cultural centre in the Kenya capital, ahead of the political and business forum 'Africa Forward'.
The festival showcases writers from all over Africa, creating stories in different languages.
Tracy Ochieng is a moderator at the Africa Forward Fest and hosted a session on Gen Z in Kenya, and another one with Eritrean author Donica Merhazion.
Donica Merhazion left Eritrea as a refugee for Kenya, lived later in the US, then came back to Kenya 15 years ago with her family. 'Born at the End of the World' is her first book.
Born in the midst of Ethiopia's Red Terror, her book channels her family's experiences.
A former journalist and educator with degrees in journalism and education, she is passionate about storytelling, and inspires her own students to love learning and embrace their potential while finding time to write in her personal time.
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More soon on RFI English
French Tech Nairobi
Still reporting from Nairobi...
Yesterday's story:
Technology — and in particular digital innovation and artificial intelligence — is booming in Kenya.
To tap into that growth, the French Embassy has set up a dedicated hub called French Tech Nairobi, backing new businesses and start-ups locally, with an eye on expanding that support across the rest of Africa.
Brandon Opondo and Michael Mbae are two of the members. They studied in Paris at Sciences Po and now work back home in Nairobi.
More on our RFI English channels on Monday!
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06/05/2026
05/05/2026
What to expect from France's 'Africa Forward' summit in Kenya?
What to expect from France's 'Africa Forward' summit in Nairobi, Kenya?
Explainer:
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02/05/2026
Newsletter - May 2026
Going back to Nairobi
This complicated year, with all its horrors, is also the one bringing me back to Kenya, a country that thought more than any other, as a journalist, and as a ongoing student of world affairs.
Dear friends and readers,
Hope you’ve been well…
After Senegal, South Africa, Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire, my job is now sending me to Kenya, a place where I was a freelance correspondent over a decade ago, covering aso Uganda, Ethiopia and Somalia.
I learned a lot about how bias our western news cycles are, how enormous and diverse Africa is, how badly represented as well, and these lessons can impact anything we read and enlighten all our leaders decisions…
Yet, a lot has changed between 2012 and 2026.
As Macron’s France promises to be a new form of better partner for the continent, can it convince? Is it even needed?
Let’s dive… then look at other parts of the continent, and of the world.
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Going back to Nairobi
28/04/2026
From reggae to grime: how black music became synonymous with a British sound
As an exhibition retraces how music from Africa, the Caribbean and North America merged to make a distinctly British sound, at the new V&A East museum in Stratford, London, in our podcast Spotlight on Africa, I look at over a century of black music in the diaspora, in Britain and beyond.
From reggae to grime: how black music became synonymous with a British sound
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In this episode this week, we’re in London to talk about the history of African and Afro-Caribbean music in Britain. Centuries of Black music-making in the country is highlighted at the latest iteration of the world renowned Victoria & Albert Museum, the V&A East, which opened on 18 April in London's neighbourhood of Stratford.
The museum’s first exhibition, titled 'The Music is Black: A British Story', and offers a survey of Black music linked the UK, starting with early drumbeats brought back from Africa and going up to the latest innovations in popular music on the island.
Black British music takes centre stage as London's V&A East opens doors
Over 500 years of cultural history
From Africa to England, via the Caribbean and North America, black music also shows how the contribution of the people of African descent still resonates in the United Kingdom, from reggae to rap and grime, an East-London-born contemporary Black British musical genre that has enabled young people to create a sense of belonging, while connecting to a global audience.
In this episode you hear the director of the museum, Gus Casely-Hayford, about how he imagined a space that would attract visitors from all over the world, including from some of the most popular and multicultural parts of London.
Multitude of music genres
Lovers rock, two-tone, rocksteady, dub, trip hop, garage, drill, dub, ska, drum & bass, jungle, grime... all these music genres emerged in the UK influence by African and Caribbean music after it had travelled to the West Indies and the British Empire in general, then came to the island, especially after WWI and WWII.
But the story began way before then, so, the genres presented in the exhibitions also include classical music, jazz, soul, funk and rock’n’roll.
You can here a longer interview with the head curator of exhibition, Jacqueline Springer, a former music journalist herself turned lecturer and events curator, about how she and her team organised a display that spans centuries of history, up to our days and the latest innovation in music, including the current exchange with African producers and songwriters.
"The stories in Act III are what inspired the title 'The Music is Black: A British Story'. This is the British story," said Springer.
For instance, the sound system culture from Jamaica and reggae came to Coventry and Bristol. "Then that's smoothed out for trip hop, which still has the ingredients of turn-tablism, of singing like lovers rock," Springer adds, "but there's a political undertone, but there's also an emotional interrogation."
African connections
The exhibition also shows how musicians from Nigeria, Ghana, Jamaica, Guyana and other former British colonies, found a place to produce their music in Britain, like Sade (born Helen Folasade Adu in 1959 in Ibadan in Nigeria), Seal, the Mad Professor (born in Guyana), or more recently Little Simz, Arlo Parks, Sekpta and Stormzy.
In the episode, we dig into the history of the genres invited outside London, like the Bristol sound, invented in the 1990s, with and around the rapper and producer Tricky, whose family members have roots in Jamaica, Africa and England
Finally, we also go to the city to hear how the producer Tim Norfolk, of the duo The Insects, is releasing a record produced there in 1994 with the late Zimbabwean singer-songwriter Biggie Tembo, leader of the then successful Bhundu Boys, never heard in over 30 years.
Spotlight on Africa is produced by RFI's English language service. Episode edited and mixed by Melissa Chemam and Erwan Rome.
Mali update: Uncertain future
Malian official accuses Russian paramilitaries of 'betrayal' in Kidal
Russian paramilitaries confirmed on Monday that they had withdrawn from the northern city of Kidal, as the jihadists and FLA rebels attacked. These are now in control of the city. Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maïga wants to reassure the population, but at least one Malian official has asserted that "the Russians betrayed Mali in Kidal."
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The men of the Russian Africa Corps have now left Kidal, in the north, with their equipment and the city is under the complete control of JNIM and the FLA.
This move has not gone down well with a Malian official, who spoke to RFI's regional correspondent, Serge Daniel, calling it a "failure".
"The Russians betrayed us in Kidal," According to this official, who is claiming that the regional governor warned the Russian mercenaries "three days before the attack", but that "they did nothing."
In reality, they might even have already negotiated their departure.
In other northern locations, the Russians are also reportedly preparing to leave, which would further weaken regular Malian troops.
Swift withdrawal
The simultaneous attacks launched on Saturday by an alliance between JNIM (made of al Qaeda-linked militants) and separatist Tuareg rebels hit multiple targets including the capital's airport and the northern city of Kidal, a Tuareg stronghold.
While Russian paramilitary from the Africa Corps (ex-Wagner) were positioned in the city, they drove out in the desert, over a thousand kilometres away, instead of fighting the assaillants.
The mercenaries of Africa Corps then officially requested and received the green light from the new rulers of Kidal to leave the region, on Sunday.
This withdrawal further weakens the regular troops on the ground, and Kidal is now under rebel control.
The Tuareg had been driven out of the city in November 2023 by the Malian army with the help of similar Russian mercenaries, but had spent years trying to come back.
Russia's foreign ministry said that efforts to eliminate the insurgents were ongoing. But it remains unclear where the fighting leaves Russia's commitment to Mali.
Weak reassurances
Mali's current Prime Minister Abdoulaye Maïga addressed the nation on Monday in an attempt to reassure the Malian population two days after the attacks started.
He also paid tribute to Defense Minister Sadio Camara, killed Saturday in Kati, and asserted that the jihadists' plans had failed.
But the scale of the offensive on the multiple sites - around the capital Bamako and at least three towns across the vast West African country - demonstrated an unprecedented ability to coordinate fighters from different groups with different goals and strike at the heart of the military government, according to analysts.
The rather limited response from the Malian junta also causes concern in Mali. The head of the junta, Assimi Goïta, remains out of sight and silent, supposedly hiding in a secure location.
Jean-Hervé Jézéquel, director of the Sahel project at the International Crisis Group, told RFI that, even if it's necessary to protect the leader, rumours are growing on how the junta could survive the blow.
The attacks clearly demonstrate reach, Justyna Gudzowska, executive director of The Sentry, an investigative and policy group, also told Reuters. "(It) tells every Malian, every regional capital, and every foreign partner that JNIM can operate at will inside the supposedly secure heart of the state."
Threats to power
For now, the Islamists appear focused on consolidating their gains, recruiting fighters and gaining political traction in Mali - as Islamist rebels did in Syria - rather than carrying out attacks abroad or hitting foreign interests in the region.
Corinne Dufka, an expert on the Sahel region, said the weekend offensive had moved the needle on JNIM's military and political demands, exposed Mali's intelligence failures and the efficacy of its partnership with Russia, and also demonstrated the formidable military capacity of JNIM and its Tuareg allies.
"After nearly 20 years of military interventions by the US, French, European, African and Russian partners, the jihadists have only multiplied their areas of operation," Dufka told Reuters, adding that if the situation were to deteriorate and the jihadist groups veered from their current local agenda, they might eventually threaten countries beyond Mali's borders.
Yvan Guichaoua, a Sahel specialist at German research centre bicc, said the attacks on military and government targets were intended to "decapitate" leadership and paralyse the chain of command and decision making.
According to Dufka, JNIM appears increasingly inspired by Syria's transformation and is seeking to distance itself from its al Qaeda core and "terrorist" label by governing with parallel systems of justice, taxation and policing in areas it controls.
As a result, she urged international actors to find ways of engaging in some kind of dialogue. "There appears to be no military solution to this conflict," she said.
(with Reuters)
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