France, Kenya Sign Five-Year Defense Cooperation Agreement

Kenya is set to host the Africa-France Summit next week, the first time the gathering will be held in a non-Francophone, English-speaking African nation since the summits began in 1973. The summit follows the signing of a new five-year defense cooperation agreement between France and Kenya.

According to Kenyan officials, the pact is designed to enhance Kenya’s defense capacity through access to French training, technology, and expertise in maritime security, intelligence exchange, and disaster relief. It aims to improve coordination in regional maritime governance and surveillance systems across the Western Indian Ocean.

The agreement is automatically renewable for an additional five years.

The pact includes provisions granting French troops immunity from prosecution in Kenyan courts. It follows France’s withdrawal from several West African and Sahel nations after military coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger beginning in 2020 led their new leaders to demand the departure of French troops. Senegal, Chad, and Ivory Coast also requested French troop withdrawals in subsequent years.

Kenya has deepened security ties with multiple partners in recent years. During a May 2024 state visit by President William Ruto, the Biden administration designated Kenya a major non-NATO ally, the third such sub-Saharan African country after Tunisia and Egypt.

Kenya has contributed to a U.S.-backed multinational police operation in Haiti and joined Operation Prosperity Guardian aimed at protecting Red Sea shipping from Houthi attacks. In a March phone call, Secretary of State Marco Rubio thanked Ruto for Kenya’s contributions to peace and security in Haiti and for publicly condemning Iranian strikes against Gulf states.

French President Emmanuel Macron invited Ruto to the G7 summit in France in June.