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DAKAR, Senegal (AP) \u2014 French President Emmanuel Macron<\/a> is facing backlash after he interrupted a panel at the Africa Forward Summit<\/a> in Kenya to demand silence from the audience.<\/p>\n Macron stormed the stage<\/a> to rebuke audience members for what he called a \u201ctotal lack of respect,\u201d accusing them of disrupting speakers during a presentation by artists and young entrepreneurs. He had earlier described himself as a \u201cPan-Africanist\u201d during a news conference.<\/p>\n The summit is meant to showcase France\u2019s new policy for the continent<\/a> \u2014 a shift from a former colonial power seen as dominating to what Paris describes as a partnership of equals. On Tuesday, Macron announced a $27 billion investment<\/a> into various sectors in Africa, including energy, artificial intelligence<\/a> and agriculture.<\/p>\n Videos of Macron’s heated intervention on Monday quickly spread across social media, drawing a mix of mockery, praise and criticism.<\/p>\n Appearing visibly frustrated by the noise in the room, Macron abruptly walked onto the stage and asked the speaker to hand him the microphone, saying he would \u201crestore order.\u201d<\/p>\n Addressing the audience in English, he criticized attendees for talking over the speakers and creating disruptions during the session.<\/p>\n Some audience members applauded the intervention, but Macron also drew criticism over his response.<\/p>\n \u201cJust imagine what would happen if an African leader did the same thing in America or Europe,\u201d said Thierno Mbaye, a history student at a university in Senegal\u2019s capital, Dakar.<\/p>\n \u201cHe acted like a schoolteacher scolding children,\u201d Mbaye told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n The intervention also drew criticism in France.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s stronger than him: as soon as he sets foot on the African continent, he can\u2019t help but behave like a colonizer,\u201d Dani\u00e8le Obono, a lawmaker for the hard-left party France Unbowed, said in a post on X.<\/p>\n The Africa Forward Summit, which is set to close on Tuesday with a declaration that is expected to be signed by all 30 heads of state, comes amid a fallout between France and its former colonies, mostly in West Africa.<\/p>\n France has long maintained a colonial policy of economic, political and military sway dubbed Fran\u00e7afrique, which included keeping thousands of troops in the region it controlled.<\/p>\n After years of criticism<\/a> from leaders and opposition parties in many West African countries over what they described as a demeaning and heavy-handed approach, France has withdrawn most of its troops from the region. It completed the withdrawal of troops from Senegal<\/a> in July.<\/p>\n Macron had already faced a backlash ahead of the summit for claiming Sunday at news conference alongside Kenyan President William Ruto that \u201cwe are the true Pan-Africanists.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that Africa is a continent, and that this continent has an enormous amount to build,\u201d Macron said.<\/p>\n Pan-Africanism refers to an ideology seeking the unity of Africans and the elimination of colonialism. Given France\u2019s colonial history across the continent, the remark went viral on social media and drew swift backlash.<\/p>\n \u201cPan Africanism is not a brand, Mr. Macron, neither is it a diplomatic posture,\u201d Farida Nabourema, a Togolese human rights activist, said in an open letter on Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a political philosophy that said no to everything France spent three centuries saying yes to: slavery, colonialism and neocolonialism,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Beverly Ochieng, a senior analyst at geopolitical risk consultancy Control Risks, said Macron is trying to distance France from its diplomatic and military setbacks in West Africa by turning to the east of the continent, signaling that its strategic priorities now follow where it finds goodwill.<\/p>\n She said Macron\u2019s remarks were raising questions about whether France\u2019s renewed engagement with Africa represented a genuine equal partnership or merely convenient rhetoric.<\/p>\n The French presidency and Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Paris will be respectful of each African country\u2019s independence, Macron said on Tuesday, adding that \u201csovereignty and autonomy is shared, and your success is our success.\u201d<\/p>\n Alioune Tine, founder of the Afrikajom Center think tank, said Macron’s remark might also be a subtle jab at Russia, which has replaced France as the main security partner<\/a> in some West African countries.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Macron describes himself as the \u2018true\u2019 pan-Africanist, it is also a subtle response to the pro-Russian pan-Africanist voices<\/a> online, which French officials tend to view as inauthentic or politically manipulated,\u201d Tine said.<\/p>\n He said relations between Western powers and African states are inherently paternalistic and France is no exception, but that Macron has shifted policy away from the colonial legacy through a more informal diplomatic style aimed at rebuilding trust.<\/p>\n According to an Ipsos survey conducted on behalf of the French Foreign Ministry in nine African countries ahead of the summit, 74% of respondents said they have a positive image of France. Support was highest in English-speaking countries and among respondents under 35.<\/p>\n Macron, who is the first French president born after the colonial era, had pledged after his first election in 2017 that he would reset French relations with Africa.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nDiplomatic and military setbacks in West Africa<\/h2>\n
\u2018Inauthentic or politically manipulated\u2019<\/h2>\n