{"id":129012,"date":"2026-01-19T19:02:50","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T19:02:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/kenya-to-seek-consensus-on-7-key-areas-at-africa-france-summit-in-may\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T19:02:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T19:02:50","slug":"kenya-to-seek-consensus-on-7-key-areas-at-africa-france-summit-in-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/kenya-to-seek-consensus-on-7-key-areas-at-africa-france-summit-in-may\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenya to seek consensus on 7 key areas at Africa\u2013France Summit in May"},"content":{"rendered":"

PARIS, France, Jan 19 \u2014 Kenya will push for consensus on seven key priority areas, including reform of the international financial architecture, at the Africa\u2013France Summit set to be held in Nairobi in May, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has said.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mudavadi made the remarks in Paris after holding talks with the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-No\u00ebl Barrot, as preparations for the summit gather pace.<\/p>\n

He said Kenya attaches the highest strategic importance to the meeting, noting that it will be the first Africa\u2013France Summit ever held in a non-Francophone African country since the forum\u2019s inception in 1973.<\/p>\n

\u201cKenya\u2019s objective is that the Summit adopts declarations that will deliver concrete, bankable and monitorable outcomes in key priority areas,\u201d Mudavadi said, listing reform of the international financial architecture, energy transition, green industrialisation, digital innovation, sustainable agriculture, health systems and coordinated action on climate change.<\/p>\n

He added that Kenya had welcomed France\u2019s indication that the summit\u2019s outcomes would inform its agenda during its G7 Presidency in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are consolidating the relevant teams to work closely to ensure coherence between the Summit deliverables and the G7 process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The summit, scheduled for May 11\u201312, 2026, will focus on critical global issues and is expected to elevate African voices in global decision-making.<\/p>\n

Economic Partnership Agreement <\/h2>\n

Mudavadi said France remains a key economic partner for Kenya in Europe and an important gateway to the wider European Union market, especially following the entry into force of the Kenya\u2013EU Economic Partnership Agreement in July 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cKenya confirms its full political commitment to delivering a successful Summit and invites France to continue providing strong political and technical support during the preparatory phase,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said hosting the summit offers Kenya an opportunity to showcase its growing geopolitical influence and reinforce its leadership in climate diplomacy.<\/p>\n

The talks also focused on deepening Kenya\u2013France cooperation, anchored on shared values, mutual respect and multilateralism.<\/p>\n

However, Mudavadi noted that trade between the two countries remains structurally imbalanced, with Kenya exporting mainly primary and semi-processed agricultural products while importing high-value industrial and pharmaceutical goods.<\/p>\n

\u201cKenya\u2019s strategic objective is to shift the relationship from a predominantly trading one to a production- and investment-driven partnership, anchored in value addition, industrial cooperation and technology transfer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Investment promotion <\/h2>\n

Mudavadi, who is also Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, invited French companies to expand investment in manufacturing, agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, green industry, logistics and digital technologies, and to use Kenya as a regional production and export hub.<\/p>\n

He said Kenya is strengthening business-to-business mechanisms and investment promotion frameworks to ensure opportunities translate into actual projects.<\/p>\n

The two sides also discussed cooperation under the Win Win Africa (Agora) initiative, which focuses on youth, social cohesion and community-based sports infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Regional and global security issues were also reviewed, with both countries reaffirming the importance of respecting the UN Charter and principles of international law.<\/p>\n

Mudavadi said Kenya would value France\u2019s support, including within the European Peace Facility and the Kenya\u2013EU Strategic Partnership frameworks, to help address financing and capability gaps in peace and security missions.<\/p>\n

The discussions also covered health, transport, infrastructure and aviation.<\/p>\n

He acknowledged France\u2019s \u20ac136 million cooperation envelope in Kenya\u2019s health sector and the Food4Education partnership supporting school nutrition programmes, and expressed interest in deepening cooperation on major infrastructure projects, including the modernization of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and expansion of the Nairobi Commuter Rail.<\/p>\n

The visit was at the invitation of the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PARIS, France, Jan 19 \u2014 Kenya will push for consensus on seven key priority areas, including reform of the international financial architecture, at the Africa\u2013France Summit set to be held in Nairobi in May, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has said. Mudavadi made the remarks in Paris after holding talks with the French Minister for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129012\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}