Emmanuel Macron and William Ruto on Monday unveiled new partnerships aimed at strengthening cooperation between Africa and Europe in the fields of arts, sports, and technology, while emphasizing the importance of leveraging Africa’s youthful population and Europe’s technological expertise.
The announcement came during the Africa Forward Summit held at the University of Nairobi, where both leaders engaged with young people, artists, and athletes from across the continent.
Macron said global technology solutions have largely been dominated by the United States and China, but stressed that Africa and Europe have a unique opportunity to collaborate and build independent innovation ecosystems.
“I think we have a common fight, a common battle together of investment, which is to build our strategic autonomy for Europe and Africa, and if we build it together, we will be much stronger,” he said.
Ruto highlighted Africa’s demographic advantage, pointing to its large, youthful, and entrepreneurial population as a key driver of future technological and economic transformation.
“We have young people with the right skills,” he said.
“We have the right infrastructure in terms of internet connectivity and we have a very enterprising population. So in my opinion, this is the space in which we are operating and I think every other country should be able to think in that direction because the future is about technology,” he added.
The discussions underscored growing efforts to deepen Africa–Europe cooperation beyond traditional aid and trade relations, focusing instead on innovation, digital transformation, and creative industries.
Both leaders also met with top African artists and athletes as part of efforts to expand cultural and sports exchanges under the new partnership framework.
The Africa Forward Summit is expected to continue discussions on investment, youth empowerment, and technology-driven development strategies across the continent.
