Can Europe’s new deals fix Africa’s old problems?

Europe’s latest courtship of Africa arrives wrapped in fresh language, larger investment pledges and carefully staged symbolism. On the one hand, Italy speaks of “nonpredatory cooperation.” France, on the other, is now touting a “partnership of equals.” Summit venues have also shifted from Paris and Rome to Addis Ababa and Nairobi, while public messaging deftly avoids the aid vocabulary that poisoned earlier relations. Yet the real question is not whether Europe’s tone has shifted but if its incentives have changed.