President William Ruto left Monday night for Evian, France, at the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron to participate in the G7 Leaders’ Summit, where he will represent Africa and advance the continent’s priorities before the world’s leading economies.
Ruto’s invitation to the summit reflects the growing recognition of Kenya’s strategic leadership role in global affairs and the confidence placed in his voice on matters concerning Africa and the Global South.
In that capacity, the President will articulate Africa’s unified position as concretised during the Africa Forward Summit held last month in Nairobi, which established a common continental agenda on economic transformation, financial reform, climate action and digital development.
He will join fellow leaders of the world’s major economies, including President Emmanuel Macron of France, President Donald Trump of the United States, Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada, Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba of Japan, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom, European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, alongside other invited leaders from key partner nations.
Trump arrived in Geneva on Monday ahead of the summit.
The summit will provide an important platform for Ruto to champion Africa’s case for reforms to the international financial architecture, affordable access to capital and investment, and implementation of the Africa Forward Summit’s recommendations on financial and credit reform to unlock growth, enterprise and job creation across the continent, including expanded financing opportunities for Kenyan businesses and entrepreneurs.
He will also champion stronger partnerships between Africa and the world’s leading economies in trade, infrastructure, energy, climate resilience and innovation while advocating for renewed international solidarity and a more inclusive framework for shared global prosperity, State House said.
He will further articulate Africa’s position on the governance and deployment of Artificial Intelligence, advocating for equitable access to emerging technologies and increased investment in digital infrastructure, data centres, innovation ecosystems and skills development to ensure Africa plays a meaningful role in shaping the future digital economy.
The discussions will also provide an opportunity for the Head of State to engage leading technology innovators, including OpenAl Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman and leaders of Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia, Mistral Al, Cohere, Black Forest Labs, Synthesia, Sakana Al, Domyn, Sarvam Al and Kakao, while positioning Kenya as Africa’s leading digital and innovation hub and pursuing partnerships that expand opportunities for Kenyan youth, accelerate technology-enabled job creation and strengthen the country’s competitiveness in the global digital economy.
On the sidelines of the summit, President Ruto will hold bilateral meetings with several Heads of State and Government to strengthen strategic partnerships, deepen economic cooperation and mobilise investments into key sectors of the economy.
The engagements will focus on attracting investment into manufacturing, renewable energy, infrastructure, agribusiness, housing, healthcare, digital services and value-added exports, while unlocking opportunities under the National Infrastructure Fund to support economic growth, create jobs and improve livelihoods for Kenyans.
The President’s engagements at the G7 Summit are expected to strengthen Kenya’s economic diplomacy agenda, unlock new investment opportunities,
deepen strategic partnerships and reinforce Kenya’s position as a gateway to Africa, delivering tangible economic benefits for the people of Kenya while advancing Africa’s collective interests on the global stage.
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