Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, revealed an investment plan in the region of €5.5 billion ($5.9 billion) aimed at enhancing Italy’s relations with Africa.
The initiative seeks to bolster energy connections and reduce mass migration patterns.
Hosting a gathering on Monday, the premier welcomed around 25 African heads of state and government. Meloni’s objective is to establish Rome as a significant political and economic intermediary between the European Union and Africa.
Details of the plan
According to her, Italy’s primary focus will include energy, education, professional training, healthcare, agriculture, and water. The initial phase, comprising loans, grants, and guarantees, will consist of roughly €3 billion sourced from Italy’s climate fund and approximately €2.5 billion from development resources.
- She stated, “Mass illegal immigration will never be stopped, traffickers in human lives will never be defeated if we don’t tackle the causes which push someone to abandon their own home,”
- “That is exactly what we intend to do, on the one hand declaring war against the traffickers of the third millennium, and on the other working to offer the African peoples an alternative made up of opportunities, work, training and legal migration,”
She added that her administration aims to engage international financial institutions and other donor nations and, by the year’s end, establish “a new financial instrument” in collaboration with the state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. This instrument is designed to facilitate private sector investment within the project.
Backstory
- Following her assumption of office in 2022, Meloni unveiled her “Mattei plan” for Africa, named after Enrico Mattei, the founder of Italian energy company Eni SpA. This initiative, intended to serve as a political and business conduit between Italy and the continent, has faced several delays since its announcement.
- Italy and Europe have seen rising migration waves from the coast of Libya in the past few years. In 2022, around 105,000 migrants arrived the shores of Italy from North Africa. The Italian government stated that around 153,000 migrants arrived its shores via the Mediterranean Sea in 2023
