French President Emmanuel Macron urged investment in Africa on Monday as he co-hosted an economic summit in Kenya, after defending European involvement on the continent.
The European leader, speaking at the University of Nairobi, said Africa “needs investment to become more sovereign”, replacing aid with economic opportunities.
Speaking in French, Macron said that previously European chiefs would lecture African leaders on what they needed, but, “this is no longer what Africa needs or wants to hear”.
“That’s just as well, because we, too, no longer have the means, if we’re being honest,” he said.
Ahead of the summit, in an interview with the magazines Jeune Afrique and The Africa Report, the French leader said he first strongly condemned colonialism when he came to power in 2017.
But he said the colonial era was not solely to blame for issues still affecting Africa.
“We must not exonerate from all responsibility the seven decades that followed independence,” he added, calling on African leaders to improve governance.
European former colonial powers such as France and the UK remain targets for criticism in Africa, but Macron maintained that they were not “the predators of this century”.
“Europe defends the international order, effective multilateralism, the rule of law, free and open trade,” he was quoted as saying.