In Nairobi, the French president described the dual identity of Africans living in France as a treasure and a multiplier of opportunity. The summit put practical measures behind that language.
Key points
- Speaking at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Macron addressed African diaspora communities living in France
- He described dual cultural identity as « a treasure and a chance » for individuals, for employers, and for France’s economic ties with the continent
- France counts more than 15 million dual nationals, whose diaspora sends roughly €5 billion in remittances to Africa annually
In Nairobi for the Africa Forward Summit, Emmanuel Macron had a direct message for the millions of Africans living in France: your dual identity is not a burden but a bridge.
Speaking to Brut Afrique on the sidelines of the summit, the French president addressed diaspora communities with a clarity rarely heard from the Élysée. « My message to the diaspora is this: no one will take it away from you. You are totally French and totally Algerian, Moroccan, Nigerian, Beninese, Kenyan, and so on. »
A Treasure, and a Multiplier
Macron framed dual belonging not as a tension to be navigated but as a competitive advantage, for individuals, for the employers who hire them, and for France’s economic relationship with a continent it has long struggled to engage as an equal.
« It is a treasure and a chance, » he said. « For you, it means going to the depths of each of those cultures, those roots. It is a chance for the companies or the state that employs you, and it is a multiplier of opportunities, because Africa is a land of extraordinary opportunity. »
The scale of that multiplier is already visible. France counts more than 15 million dual nationals, and the diaspora they form sends roughly €5 billion in remittances to Africa annually, a flow that moves directly into households, businesses, and local economies, dwarfing many bilateral aid budgets.
Words Backed by Measures
The summit gave that rhetoric a practical dimension. On its margins, France announced the « Talent Afrique–France Fast-Track » pilot. This new scheme grants eligible African tech entrepreneurs and STEM graduates a 48-hour priority visa appointment and residency processing within 30 days. It is a small but telling signal that the mobility Macron describes as a strength is being designed into policy, not just declared from a podium.
The broader summit package reinforced the same logic. The €23 billion in combined French and African investment commitments–spanning energy, agriculture, and AI–was framed explicitly as a co-investment model.
« We are not simply here to come and invest on the African continent alongside you, » Macron told assembled heads of state. « We need great African business leaders to come and invest in France. »
Affirmation Is a Starting Point, Not an Endpoint
For diaspora communities, Macron’s declaration affirmed to the participants that dual identity is a foundation, not a compromise, and that the opportunities opening across Africa are as much theirs to shape as anyone else’s.
Whether that affirmation translates into lasting change will depend less on the language used in Nairobi and more on what follows: in visa offices, in boardrooms, and in the policy frameworks that determine who actually gets to move freely between the two continents.
