In recent years, Africa has witnessed global powers arrive at the continent’s doorstep one after another, each carrying the language of partnership and cooperation. China has its Africa summit. Russia has one. The United States has revived its leaders’ forum. Korea hosted its first summit last year. Italy, Türkiye, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and others are all building structured diplomatic platforms devoted to Africa.
There are now more than fifteen Africa+1 summits competing for the continent’s attention. This week, it is France’s turn. It shows Africa has become one of the busiest geopolitical marketplaces in the world. Why? Because the world suddenly understands what Africa has always known for – vast natural resources, young population, and growing market size. It will be the first of its kind to be held outside of a Francophone region, signifying France’s intent to diversify the forms of global cooperation.
The critical minerals needed for batteries, electric vehicles and clean energy transition are found in Africa. Some of the fastest-growing consumer markets are here. One of the world’s youngest labour forces is here. Strategic maritime routes are here. Vast renewable energy opportunities are here. And in an era of shifting geopolitical priorities, polycrisis and a fractured multilateral system, Africa’s political weight is increasingly impossible to dismiss.
Africa is emerging as a more connected, more urban, more entrepreneurial, and more aware that being resource-rich means very little if value continues to be created elsewhere. This is why the upcoming Africa–France Summit matters. It matters because this summit arrives at a time when Africa is no longer negotiating from scarcity of attention, but from abundance of interest. And that creates leverage.
That means shifting the conversation beyond broad declarations of friendship and toward structural outcomes. Africa does not need partnerships that only help extract lithium, cobalt, gas, fish or agricultural commodities faster. It needs partnerships that help process those resources locally, build green industries around them, and create jobs that stay on the continent.
This is where France has an opportunity to play a meaningful role.
France carries significant political and economic responsibilities as far as its ties with Africa are concerned. This summit needs, and must genuinely address the structural power imbalances between the North and the South. Essentially, France with the G-7 presidency has a core role to play in addressing the global financial architecture. Importantly, this summit is also devoted to development finance and broader global issues, and its outcomes are expected to feed into preparations for the upcoming G7 Summit that France will host in Evian next month. That creates a larger opening than many may realize. It can become a platform through which African voices shape wider debates on debt restructuring, concessional climate finance, reform of global lending systems, global tax standards and a fairer international financial architecture.
The rise of Africa+1 summits tells us that the world is now competing for Africa. But competition for Africa should not simply produce more meetings. It should produce a smarter Africa that understands its bargaining power, speaks with greater confidence, and enters every partnership with clear developmental terms.
The era of Africa waiting to be chosen is over. This should be the era of Africa choosing what kind of future it is willing to build, and with whom.
