FR Ambassador to Kenya

Twende Pwani! 🇰🇪🇫🇷 Today, we spotlight two recent initiatives showcasing how France is actively partnering with Kenya to preserve, promote and celebrate the rich cultural and historical heritage of the Swahili coast. 📜 1️⃣ French start-up Iconem is putting cutting-edge technology at the service of heritage by creating highly accurate 3D digital twins of national treasures such as Fort Jesus in Mombasa and Lamu Old Town. These detailed digital models offer exciting possibilities: preserving a lasting digital record of this unique coral-stone architecture, helping scientists monitor and protect these sites against the impacts of climate change, and opening new opportunities for creative industries, including gaming. 🎮 2️⃣ The Alliance Française of Mombasa is connecting communities through its Sinema Mtaani project. 🎥 This remarkable mobile cinema tour travels to some of the coast’s most iconic historical sites, from Shimoni to the Gedi Ruins, offering free screenings under the stars and creating engaging spaces for dialogue around local stories and Kenya’s rich history. 🎬 ➡️ Through these initiatives, France reaffirms its commitment to building lasting cultural bridges with Kenya. By combining technological innovation in heritage preservation with greater cultural access for young people, these projects celebrate not only the Kenyan coast’s remarkable past but also its vibrant cultural future. 🇰🇪🇫🇷 #Heritage #SinemaMtaani

🇫🇷🇺🇳 Strengthening efforts to ensure accountability for conflict-related sexual violence French Ambassador Wadid Benaabou met with 🇺🇳 Pramila Patten, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, and welcomed the organisation of the first Regional Prosecutors Conference on Accountability for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence held in Nairobi on October 14-15, 2026. France is a member of the Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Prosecution Network. This innovative initiative promotes the sharing of expertise and best practices among prosecutors and practitioners working to ensure accountability for these crimes.

🌿 Protecting Kenya’s forests is a shared commitment built on partnership, community action and long-term investment. 🇰🇪🇫🇷 Barely a month into his tenure, our Balozi Wadid Benaabou undertook his first field visit to @NakuruCountyGov , where he was received by Deputy Governor David Kones. The visit highlighted the shared efforts of 🇫🇷 and 🇰🇪 to protecting Kenya's natural heritage, restore vital ecosystems and strengthen climate resilience. 🌳 At the heart of this cooperation is the understanding that protecting forests goes beyond planting trees. It means supporting the communities that nurture them, restoring degraded landscapes and ensuring that these ecosystems continue to sustain biodiversity, protect vital water catchments and provide livelihoods. Through the partnership with @GreenBeltMovmnt , the @KeForestService and the @AFD_en @AFD_France, France is supporting community-led forest restoration and the long-term protection of Kenya’s forests. 🤝 This commitment also extends to preventing and fighting forest fires. A €22 million French Treasury-supported project @DGTresor has strengthened KFS’s capacity through modern fire-detection, monitoring and communication systems. A further €5.49 million financing extension, signed in August 2026, will expand forest surveillance through 13 additional fire towers and further equipment. 🚒🌲 Together, these efforts reflect a shared ambition: to restore Kenya’s forests, protect biodiversity and strengthen the resilience of the communities whose lives and livelihoods depend on them. 🌍 Because a greener future takes more than planting trees! @susankihika @FranceAmbKeSo

On Sept. 9-10, the International #ParisSpaceSummit brought together the global space community 👨🏾‍🚀. For 2 days, discussions focused on: 🌍 the global space economy – 51 announcements, totalling nearly €20 billion, were committed; 🛡️ space security through dialogue, defence and partnerships; 🚀 an international approach to science, technology and exploration – organizing space traffic, protecting frequencies, ensuring that scientific data remains open and accessible. 🇰🇪🇫🇷 The same spirit applies to the Franco-Kenyan spatial cooperation. 🛰️ On May 2026, @SpaceAgencyKE (KSA) partnered with the French satellite connectivity specialist @skynopy_space to integrate one ground station in Nairobi 📡. Supported by @FrTr_Kenya , this project will: ✅ optimize the use of data from the Kenyan satellite; ✅ generate additional revenue for Kenya Space Agency that will be able to use an additional satellite in its ground station; ✅ and make this infrastructure available to the African space ecosystem. This project was showcased in the heart of Paris, Le Grand Palais, where the summit was held 💪🏾. 🛸 Pushing the boundaries of space starts in Kenya!