By Mercy A.
Kenya has formally handed over the Kenyatta International Convention Centre to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ahead of the Africa Forward Summit scheduled for May 11–12, 2026.
The symbolic handover was led by Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano, who officially transferred the venue to Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi. The move marks the transition of KICC into the official operational venue for the first-ever Africa Forward Summit to be hosted in Anglophone Africa.
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The Summit is expected to bring together more than 30 African Heads of State and Government, over 4,000 delegates, and approximately 2,500 global business leaders, investors, innovators, development partners, and policy actors from across Africa, France, and the wider international community.
Held under the theme, “Africa Forward: Africa–France Partnerships for Innovation and Growth,” the Summit is expected to signal a major shift in Africa–France relations through a renewed framework anchored on parity, innovation, co-investment, and practical implementation.
The officials also inspected the venue alongside Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’oei, French Ambassador to Kenya Arnaud Suquet, KICC Chief Executive Officer James Mwaura, senior government officials, representatives of the French Embassy, Summit Secretariat officials, and members of the local and international media.
Speaking during the ceremony, Dr. Mudavadi described the Summit as a strategic platform aimed at repositioning Africa within an evolving global order.
“The Summit is anchored around a simple but powerful proposition, that Africa must move from dialogue to delivery. From declarations to implementation. From promises to measurable outcomes. And from historical dependency frameworks toward partnerships grounded in parity, mutual respect, innovation, and shared opportunity,” noted Mudavadi.
He added that Kenya was honoured to host a summit designed to move beyond traditional declarations toward tangible outcomes that improve the lives of African citizens through investments, partnerships, innovation, and job creation.
CS Miano said the successful preparation and handover of KICC demonstrated Kenya’s readiness to host one of the most consequential international gatherings on the continent in recent years.
She noted that the Summit would further strengthen Nairobi’s position as a leading destination for global diplomacy, business tourism, multilateral engagement, and international conferencing.
On his part, Dr. Sing’oei emphasized that the Africa Forward Summit had been intentionally structured as an implementation-focused platform aligning political leadership, private sector capital, and innovation ecosystems around Africa’s development priorities.
“The issues under discussion at the Summit are directly linked to investment, job creation, industrial development, food security, innovation, and the broader socio-economic wellbeing of African citizens,” he said.
According to the PS, the Summit seeks to redefine Africa’s engagement with global partners by positioning the continent not as a passive recipient of support, but as a strategic actor and co-creator of global solutions.
The Summit will focus on seven key thematic pillars shaping Africa’s future development trajectory: green industrialization and energy transition, reform of the international financial architecture, blue economy development, sustainable agriculture and food systems, artificial intelligence and digital technologies, resilient health systems, and peace and security.
A major highlight of the Summit will be the Africa Forward Business Forum to be held at the University of Nairobi. The forum is expected to convene more than 2,500 CEOs, investors, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, sovereign institutions, and policymakers in what organizers describe as one of the largest Africa–France private sector engagements ever held on the continent.
The Business Forum will feature CEO roundtables, investment announcements, business-to-business matchmaking, innovation showcases, youth entrepreneurship platforms, and sector-focused discussions covering infrastructure, logistics, artificial intelligence, health manufacturing, creative industries, agriculture, connectivity, and clean energy.
French Ambassador Arnaud Suquet described the Summit as a reflection of France’s commitment to building more balanced, forward-looking, and mutually beneficial partnerships with African countries.
The envoy noted that France is currently the fourth-largest foreign direct investor in Kenya, with more than 150 French companies operating in the country and employing over 36,000 people.
He said the investments demonstrated strong confidence by French capital in Kenya’s manufacturing and production sectors, while unlocking future growth opportunities through innovation, industrial cooperation, and sustainable investment.
Notably, France is also expected to break ground on a new state-of-the-art science and engineering complex at the University of Nairobi’s Chiromo Campus during the Summit as part of its investment in Kenya’s education sector.
The Summit will culminate in the adoption of the Nairobi Declaration, expected to establish a new framework for Africa–France cooperation focused on implementation, accountability, and measurable impact.
Acknowledging the media’s role in communicating the ambitions of the Summit, Dr. Sing’oei called on journalists across the continent to capture the significance of the gathering.
As final logistical, diplomatic, security, protocol, and media preparations intensify ahead of the opening ceremony, Kenya has reaffirmed its commitment to delivering a world-class Summit that positions Africa at the centre of conversations shaping the future of global growth, innovation, and partnerships.
The Africa Forward Summit is a joint Africa–France initiative co-convened by the Republic of Kenya and the Republic of France with endorsement from the African Union, and is being positioned as a structural shift in Africa–France relations anchored on parity, innovation, and shared implementation.
