Kenya and Africa secured significant commitments on financial reform, investment, critical minerals, infrastructure and health cooperation during the G7 Summit in Évian, France, according to a statement from State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed.
President William Ruto attended the summit at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron and used the platform to advocate for Africa’s priorities, building on resolutions agreed at the Africa Forward Summit held in Nairobi in May.
Addressing leaders during the summit, President Ruto argued that Africa should no longer be viewed through the lens of dependency but as a strategic partner in driving global growth and prosperity.
“The era in which Africa was seen through the lens of need, its risks overstated, its opportunities understated, and its future decided in rooms where it had no seat, is ending,” the President said.
Among the key outcomes highlighted by Kenya was progress on reforms aimed at lowering the cost of capital for African countries.
Leaders endorsed expanded use of guarantees, blended finance, co-financing and risk-sharing instruments to mobilise private investment into Africa through institutions such as the African Trade and Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).
The summit also advanced discussions on debt reform, including stronger implementation of the G20 Common Framework, greater transparency in debt management, and accelerated adoption of the IMF-World Bank Three-Pillar Approach to debt restructuring.
In a significant boost to Africa’s industrialisation agenda, G7 leaders supported efforts to increase local value addition in critical minerals.
The commitment seeks to move African countries beyond raw mineral exports toward processing, manufacturing and value creation within the continent.
President Ruto told leaders that Africa possesses approximately 30 per cent of the world’s critical mineral reserves but captures only a small fraction of their value.
He further urged international partners to support Africa’s ambition to build industries, create jobs and manufacture products on the continent.
“Pay attention to Africa,” the President said. “The future of global growth will be shaped there.”
The summit also delivered enhanced support for infrastructure development through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) and the Global Gateway initiative, while strengthening cooperation on health systems, cancer research and pandemic preparedness.
According to Hussein Mohamed, leaders also mobilised more than $870 million to support efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak affecting the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and the wider region.
On technology and artificial intelligence, Kenya called for stronger safeguards to protect children online, including age-appropriate platform design, enhanced parental controls, faster removal of harmful content and improved protections against exploitation and AI-generated abuse.
President Ruto noted that Africa’s rapidly growing population, expanding digital connectivity and vast natural resources position the continent as a central pillar of future global growth.
He pointed out that by 2050, Africa is expected to account for nearly 40 per cent of the global workforce and become the world’s largest consumer market with more than 2.5 billion people.
According to the State House statement, Kenya’s influence was reflected across discussions on global growth, international partnerships and artificial intelligence, with several of the country’s proposals finding expression in the summit’s outcome documents.
Hussein Mohamed said the commitments secured at the summit represent tangible gains for both Kenya and Africa, advancing long-standing calls for a more equitable international financial system, stronger investment partnerships and greater African participation in global decision-making.
a”These commitments advance Africa’s longstanding call for a more equitable international financial system, greater value creation within the continent, and partnerships anchored in mutual benefit and shared prosperity,” the statemen
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