Nairobi, May 13 -- A school child in Nairobi was last week asked who the two men jogging toward State House Primary School were. She answered without hesitation: Kipchoge and Emmanuel. Her classmate, uncertain about the second name, leaned over and asked the French president what he was called. The children were not being rude. They were being precise. In Kenya, Eliud Kipchoge settled that question a long time ago.

That moment, unrehearsed, unscripted, caught on someone's phone before the cameras repositioned told more truth about Africa's actual economy of attention than anything said inside the Africa Forward Summit.

Thirty African leaders. Macron as deal-lead. Total Energies, Orange, CMA CGM, €23 billion announced, €700mi...