South Africa's untimely absence felt at France's Africa Forward summit

More than 30 presidents arrived in Nairobi to attend an event that will mark a pivot of France's policy from francophone Africa – where many of its key partners have expelled French diplomats – to include Anglophone countries.

“(W)e are talking to the entire continent,” Eleanor Caroit, Minister of Francophonie, International Partnerships and French Citizens Abroad, told journalists on the sidelines of the Africa Forward summit on May 12, where French Pres. Emmanuel Macron Announced investment commitments worth €23bn ($27bn) for the continent.

Heads of state from across the continent attended the summit, with the aim of portraying relations as equals.

The Kenyan President said, “Enduring partnerships must be built not on dependency but on sovereign equality, not on aid or charity but on mutually beneficial investments.” William Ruto Said in his concluding speech.

Conspicuously missing is the 'big economy'

While the heads of state of the continent's largest and fastest growing economies – ghanaNigeria, Senegal, Egypt, Kenya and Ethiopia – All participated, with no delegation from South Africa, one of the continent's largest and most diverse economies.

chairman Cyril RamaphosaThe office had previously said his schedule did not allow it, but two days before the summit, Minister to the Presidency Maropena Ramokgopa also withdrew. She did not respond to questions about her replacement or her reasons for not traveling to Kenya.

Sources close to the presidency said the weekend was spent in meetings strategizing on Ramaphosa's next steps, after a court sent a report back to parliament on Friday which lead his impeachment in 2020 after attempting to conceal the theft of approximately $580,000 from a couch at his Fala Fala Game Farm.

Although these meetings may explain the scheduling conflict in Ramaphosa's diary, a senior government official also said that it was not right for a single country to “convene the entire continent”. South Africa was opposed to this and the power games that came with it, the official said.

There was also speculation that Ramaphosa was angry with this Macron withdraws invitation – Last year's G20 in Johannesburg was expanded to include in-person participation in the G7 summit in France in June.

This came after the United States, a G7 member, objected to South Africa's presence and invited Ruto instead. Ruto declined South Africa's invitation to the G20 last year, but soon after, he traveled to the US with the President donald trumpInvitation of.

'Xenophobic' South Africa on the backfoot

South Africa has also recently faced diplomatic attacks from several countries on the continent following small but well-planned and apparently well-funded protests against alleged undocumented immigrants in South Africa.

In addition to videos of scuffles and attacks during these protests, misinformation about recent killings of immigrants also circulated, leading to Concerns about xenophobia in South Africa.

In Ramaphosa's absence, the Nigerian President Tinubu said The peace and security session at the Africa Forward Summit was used to raise issues of Nigeria and Ghana with South Africa Targeting of foreign nationals by small groups of protesters in South Africa.

Tinubu delivered the speech “in front of a galaxy of Africa's leaders,” Nigeria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations World Tourism Organization Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu posted on Twitter, without naming South Africa.

“Migration is not a crime, and migrants should not face savage justice in blatant disregard of their basic rights,” he quoted Tinubu as saying, adding that solving it requires leadership at all levels of society and government, as well as “structured, equitable and sustained cooperation between countries.”

In his newsletter this week, Ramaphosa said: “Violent protests and criminal acts targeting foreign nationals in some parts of our country Do not represent the views of the people of South AfricaNor does it reflect the policy of our government.”

conflicting optics

Caroit points out that South Africa's non-presence did not mean that it was withdrawing from the African stage or from its close ties with France. Africa Report. He said there was “no political reason” for Ramaphosa not to be there, adding that France had sent a high-level delegation including Macron. G20 summit last year.

Solid results so far: 'Worth watching', not in yet

Sanusha Naidu, a political analyst at the South Africa-based Institute for Global Dialogue, agrees. “I think the challenge with summits, and the challenge with these types of diplomatic summits, is that they're more fanfare than anything else. It's really a question of what's happening behind the scenes, before the actual summit,” she explains. Africa Report.

Africa should not view this summit as A way to befriend FranceShe says. “There are no friends in international relations, there are only interests,” says Naidu. “And once you learn that, once we understand that, Africa also needs to think about the world in an interest-vested, interest-based approach.”

Independent analyst Marisa Lourenço said the biggest reasons for South Africa's absence were domestic politics and the urgency of dealing with the Fala Fala matter. But he did say that it is contradictory for some government officials to object to a single country's Africa summit. Pretoria itself characterized the G20 as “Africa's G20”..

she tells Africa Report This was not about France “inviting” Africa, as countries like China had done the same thing. “In this case, France did not even require the leaders to travel to Paris – the summit was held in an African country. Many African governments participated because they still see strategic and economic value in engaging with France Despite the rhetoric around post-colonial impact“

Carlos Lopes, an Africa analyst and professor at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance at the University of Cape Town, questioned the usefulness of France's pledges.

In a post on X, he pointed out that Macron had previously announced major investments in Africa, including a special allocation following the pandemic and additional special drawing rights for Africa. Summit for a new global financing agreement In Paris in 2023. “Concrete results so far: 'worth watching', not in yet,” he posted.

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