President William Ruto recently met France’s ambassador to Kenya to discuss plans for the upcoming Africa Forward Summit, but when decisions about a continent’s future are shaped without civil society voices in the room, something fundamental is already missing.

Development Diaries reports that the Africa Forward Summit is a platform being positioned as a major partnership between African governments and international actors.

When two powerful officials sit down to plan Africa’s development, and the room does not include farmers, women’s groups, youth movements, or civil society voices, then it is like planning a family meal and forgetting to invite the people who will actually eat the food.

From the EU-Africa Summit to the France-Africa Summit, and even initiatives like the Compact with Africa, Africa has seen many high-level meetings where leaders gather, shake hands, take pictures, and release polished communiqués filled with big promises.

The problem is that those promises often travel well in reports but struggle to arrive in real communities.

Part of what makes this latest summit interesting is timing, as France has been trying to redefine its relationship with Africa, especially after being pushed out of countries like Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, where public anger and political shifts forced a rethink of old alliances.

Under President Ruto, Kenya has positioned itself as a go-to venue for global conversations, from climate meetings to economic forums, which is a smart move politically. But hosting conversations is one thing, making sure those conversations reflect the realities of ordinary Africans is another thing entirely.

Development plans that are designed without the people they are meant to serve often end up serving someone else. When agricultural policies are discussed without smallholder farmers, you get systems that favour large-scale exporters while local food security struggles.

When health investments are planned without community health workers, you get shiny hospitals in cities while rural clinics remain empty. When gender equality is discussed without women’s organisations, you get commitments that sound good but quietly disappear when it is time to act.

So the issue is whether the Africa Forward Summit will be different, and that difference will not be determined on the day of the summit when speeches are read and cameras are rolling; It will be determined before then, in how the agenda is set, who is invited to shape it, and whose voices are considered important enough to include.

That is why governments across Africa, including Kenya’s, have a responsibility to open up this process before it is too late. The agenda should not be a secret document, the participants should not be a closed list, and civil society should not be an afterthought added for balance.

Institutions like the African Union also have a role to play. If they are serious about people-centred development, then civil society cannot be kept outside the room while decisions are being made inside it.

So as plans for the Africa Forward Summit move ahead, the question is will this be another meeting where Africa is discussed, or one where Africans are finally heard?