The Africa-France Summit took place on October 8 in the city of Montpellier.
It was a radically new kind of summit, as no heads of state were invited to the event. Emmanuel Macron wanted to give a new dimension to this 28th edition, which was entirely dedicated to youth and civil society.
It was driven by the ambition to establish a dialogue with young Africans and young people from the diaspora who, every day, are building the future of the relationship between France and the continent.
The event welcomed nearly 3,000 young entrepreneurs, artists, researchers, athletes, students, and committed personalities from both regions of the world, who came together to share the goal of paving the way for dialogue, particularly in the areas of entrepreneurship and innovation.
After a challenging question-and-answer session for the French president, new ambitions for African entrepreneurship were unveiled:
The first: the creation of a €30 million fund to be deployed over three years with the aim of supporting agents of change on the African continent. This fund will be managed by a committee of African, French, and Franco-African figures, all from civil society, to guarantee the independence and neutrality of the instrument.
The second is the launch of the second phase of Digital Africa.
Digital Africa is an initiative created in 2018 to support digital innovation in Africa. Designed as a label dedicated to supporting startups on the continent, Digital Africa is the result of the French government's financial commitment to the development of African ecosystems. At the third edition of the VivaTech trade show, Emmanuel Macron announced a €65 million commitment through a specific instrument deployed by the French Development Agency via the Digital Africa platform to support startup projects. Since its creation, the project has been supported by a dozen African and French organizations, led by major digital and tech players such as Rebecca Enonchong and Karim Sy, founder of Jokkolabs. But this ambitious project has gradually given way to differences of opinion and governance issues.
To "save" this initiative and give it a "second life," Emmanuel Macron announced at the Montpellier Summit the launch of the second version of Digital Africa, in the form of a seed fund of €10 million per year, deployed over three years. This fund will be attached to Proparco, a subsidiary of the French Development Agency, to support African startups.