The Clapping Hands of the Colonised: Emmanuel Macron’s Insult to True Pan-Africanism -By Jeff Okoroafor

The French President’s ‘True Pan-Africanist’ Claim Is an Insult to Every African Who Has Fought and Died for Genuine Sovereignty.

“You are clapping for the man whose country has looted your uranium, rigged your elections, and stationed troops on your soil without your parliament’s consent.”

That was the thought—or should have been—that flashed through the mind of every African leader rising to applaud Emmanuel Macron at the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi on May 11–12, 2026. But alas, the clapping was thunderous. The handshakes were firm. The smiles were broad. And in that hall, the ghost of Thomas Sankara wept.

“WE ARE the true pan-Africanists,” the French President proclaimed before more than thirty African heads of state. He announced €23 billion ($27 billion) in “co-investments” and declared that the days of offering assistance were behind us. He spoke of “respect, courage, and shared ambitions”. And the audience—a gallery of African presidents, prime ministers, and dignitaries—clapped.

Let us be absolutely clear: this was not a partnership of equals. It was a masterclass in soft-power gaslighting. And the enthusiastic applause from African leaders was not a sign of diplomatic maturity. It was the clapping of the colonised—the reflexive, inferiority-complex-driven ovation of those who have been “played” into believing that their former oppressor has suddenly become their greatest champion.

A Philosophy Born of Resistance, Not of Colonial Edict

Pan-Africanism is not a brand. It is not a marketing slogan that a European head of state can borrow to rebrand his sagging continental influence. Pan-Africanism is a revolutionary ideology born in the bowels of slave ships and on the blood-soaked soil of colonised lands. It was forged by Kwame Nkrumah, who thundered, “We must unite now or perish”. It was carried forward by Nnamdi Azikiwe, who fought British imperialism not to replace it with French neo-colonialism, but to bury it entirely.

And it was given its most ferocious, uncompromising voice by Thomas Sankara, the man Macron’s France helped assassinate. Sankara did not mince words. He called debt what it is: “a cleverly managed reconquest of Africa”. He warned that colonisers had merely transformed themselves into “technical assistance”—or, as he put it with chilling accuracy, “technical assassins”. He understood that the Paris Club was not a charitable organisation but a modern instrument of financial slavery.

Can anyone imagine Sankara rising to applaud a French president? Can anyone picture Nkrumah nodding approvingly as a former colonial power announced that it would now deign to treat Africans as “partners”? Absolutely not. Those men would have walked out of that summit hall in Nairobi. They would have told Macron, in no uncertain terms, that Africa does not need a self-appointed “true Pan-Africanist” from a nation that still controls the monetary policy of 11 African countries through the CFA franc, still extracts uranium from some to power French nuclear plants, and still maintains military bases across the continent under defence agreements that grant French soldiers immunity from local prosecution.

But the men and women who applauded Macron are not Nkrumah. They are not Sankara. They are not Azikiwe. They are the political elites of a generation that has traded sovereignty for applause.

Applauding the Executioner: The Shame of the Summit

Let us name this shame explicitly. Among those who co-chaired the summit was Kenyan President William Ruto. He spoke eloquently of “sovereign equality, mutual respect, and shared responsibility”. He declared that partnerships “must not be built on dependency”. And then he stood beside Macron as the French president announced a five-year renewable defence deal that critics have warned could risk subordinating Kenya’s interests to a neo-colonial power. The agreement reportedly grants French military personnel diplomatic-style immunity in Kenya and allows convicted French soldiers to serve sentences in France.

This is not partnership. This is the legal codification of neo-colonial privilege. And Kenyan legislators clapped.

The Sahel nations—Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger—have already expelled French forces, choosing sovereignty over subservience. They have been condemned by Macron, who refuses to accept that Africans might actually prefer to determine their own security arrangements. And instead of standing in solidarity with these nations, the leaders at the Africa Forward Summit embraced the very power those nations have rejected. The clapping in Nairobi was, in effect, an insult to the Sahel.

Even more telling was Macron’s behaviour at the summit. He stormed the stage to rebuke audience members for “a total lack of respect,” acting like a schoolteacher scolding unruly children. A French lawmaker aptly noted, “It’s stronger than him: as soon as he sets foot on the African continent, he can’t help but behave like a colonizer”. That single episode revealed the truth beneath the velvet rhetoric. For all the talk of “equal partnership,” Macron cannot help himself. The habit of command is too deeply ingrained.

And yet, the African leaders clapped even as he scolded them.

Africa Is Not Young. It Is Ancient.

There is a patronising trope embedded in Macron’s “true Pan-Africanist” performance. It is the same trope that European leaders have used for centuries: the idea that Africa is a “young continent” in need of guidance, investment, and civilising influence.

But Africa is not young. Africa is the cradle of mankind. The earliest Homo sapiens emerged here approximately 300,000 years ago. The Nok civilisation of Nigeria produced figurative sculpture 2,500 years ago. The kingdoms of Kush, Axum, Ghana, Mali, and Great Zimbabwe built sophisticated political and economic systems while Europe was still stumbling through the Dark Ages.

History does not repeat itself. It is people who repeat history. And the people seated in that Nairobi hall—applauding a French president who represents the very forces that plundered this continent—are about to repeat the worst mistakes of the past. They are negotiating from a position of weakness. They are accepting “co-investment” frameworks that keep decision-making power and profit repatriation in French hands. They are signing defence agreements that undermine their own sovereignty. And they are doing all of this while smiling for the cameras.

The New Propaganda Does Not Use Force. It Uses Summits.

Macron’s performance in Nairobi is not an isolated incident. It is part of a carefully calculated strategic recalibration by France after the collapse of Françafrique in West Africa. Having been expelled from the Sahel, Paris is now pivoting to East Africa and Anglophone nations, offering investment dollars and defence cooperation as bait. The goal is not mutual benefit. The goal is to maintain France’s “sphere of influence” by other means.

Professor Muktar Imam, a Nigerian political scientist, put it plainly: France–Africa relations “have historically been one-sided, with benefits skewed heavily in France’s favour despite repeated claims of partnership and mutual cooperation”. He described the summit as part of a “new scramble for Africa,” where external powers compete not with guns but with investment pledges. “What we’re witnessing,” he said, “is a recasting or a recolouring of the France–Africa summit”.

This is the propaganda of the 21st century. It does not arrive in warships (though 800 French soldiers arrived in Mombasa aboard three warships just weeks before the summit). It arrives in PowerPoint presentations and “co-investment” frameworks and joint declarations signed by 30 heads of state. It dresses itself in the language of “sovereignty” and “mutual respect” while quietly locking African nations into dependent relationships.

A Call to the Young Leaders of Africa

The old guard may be content to clap. But the young leaders of Africa—the entrepreneurs, the activists, the students, the pan-Africanists who actually understand what that word means—are not fooled. Across the continent, youth-led movements are demanding a borderless Africa, reparatory justice, and the decolonisation of economic systems. They are refusing to accept debt as destiny. They are demanding that African resources benefit African people.

To these young leaders, I say: do not be discouraged by the clapping hands in Nairobi. Those leaders represent a dying paradigm. They are the last generation of African politicians who believe that bowing to former colonial powers is a sign of sophistication. They are wrong.

Partnership with Europe is not the issue. Partnership is essential. But the question is not whether to partner. The question is how. Are you negotiating from a place of strength or from a place of weakness? Are you bringing your own terms to the table, or are you accepting terms written in Paris, London, or Washington?

As Professor Imam reminds us, “Diplomacy is about bargaining. What you bring to the table, your bargaining chip, is what will earn you something. You must bargain from a position of strength, not a position of weakness”.

Conclusion: The Future Cannot Be Clapped Away

Emmanuel Macron is not a pan-Africanist. He is the president of a country whose entire post-colonial strategy has been to maintain control over its former colonies by any means necessary—economic, military, and political. His claim to pan-Africanism is an insult to every African who has fought for genuine sovereignty. It is an insult to the memory of Sankara, who died resisting French influence. It is an insult to Nkrumah, who warned that neocolonialism seeks to compromise newly independent states by “bribing” their leaders.

The true pan-Africanists are not in Paris. They are not in Nairobi applauding French presidents. They are in the villages, the universities, the tech hubs, and the streets of this continent. They are the ones demanding that Africa stands on its own feet. They are the ones who understand that applause is not a substitute for sovereignty.

The world is watching. History is watching. And when the final chapter of Africa’s liberation is written, it will not record the names of those who clapped for Macron in Nairobi. It will record the names of those who refused to clap—who stood up, walked out, and built a different future.

Enough of the clapping. It is time for building.

Jeff Okoroafor is a social accountability advocate and a political commentator focused on governance, accountability, and social justice in West Africa.