Ursula von der Leyen’s European Commission has placed Africa at the heart of the European Union’s external action strategy, signaling to Washington, Moscow, and Beijing that the “geopolitical commission”[1] intends to carve itself a genuine place in the current rivalry for world leadership. Von der Leyen’s first trip abroad as European Commission president was to the institutional heart of Africa, in Addis Ababa, where she met African leaders and vowed that Africa and Europe will no ...