
From Aid Paternalism to Productive Investment: Lessons from the EuropAfrica Investment Forum 2026
On 2 October 2026, the EuropAfrica Investment Forum at the European Parliament marked a clear call to end the traditional aid model. Speakers including Louis Michel and DRC Minister Julien Paluku argued that decades of development assistance have failed to transform African economies, which still capture only 3% of the value of their resources. The real priority, they insisted, is industrialisation, local processing of critical minerals, and a shift from grants to investment-support instruments. Shared prosperity, not aid, is presented as the only sustainable answer to migration and the foundation for a genuine Europe-Africa partnership.





















