French President Emmanuel Macron briefly stopped proceedings at the University of Nairobi on Monday, May 11, after calling out sections of the audience for disrupting a speaker during the Africa Forward Summit youth forum. Attending alongside President William Ruto, Macron walked to the stage, took the microphone, and told noisy delegates to show respect.
“Excuse me, everybody. Hey, hey, hey,” Macron said as chatter rose in Taifa Hall during a panel on technology and culture. “It’s impossible to speak about culture to have people like that super inspired coming here, making a speech with such a noise. This is a total lack of respect.” He suggested anyone wanting “bilaterals or to speak about something else” should use side rooms or step outside.
“If you want to stay here, we listen to the people.” The hall fell silent. Sections of the audience applauded before the session resumed.
The interruption came during a high-level dialogue where Ruto and Macron were engaging young innovators on AI, digital jobs, and education reform. Ruto defended Kenya’s Competency-Based Education changes, saying they aim to prepare learners for a tech-driven job market. Macron praised Kenya’s youthful energy and innovation ecosystem, pledging deeper France-Africa partnerships on innovation hubs, creative industries, and climate-focused startups. A moderator later called the moment “cold leadership.”
Macron’s blunt rebuke quickly went viral, with clips circulating online showing him scolding the crowd. Earlier Monday he had urged African investment over aid, telling delegates that Europenno longer has the means to lecture the continent and that Africa needs investment to become more sovereign. The Africa Forward Summit, co-hosted by Kenya and France, is the first of its kind in a non-Francophone country and has drawn over 30 heads of state.
For Macron, the incident underscored a broader message of his Kenya visit: respect, equality, and partnership. For the audience, it was a reminder that even at summits promising to reshape Africa-France relations, basic auditorium etiquette still applies.
