Italy seeks to boost Africa ties with €5.5 billion funding plan

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni unveiled an investment plan worth more than €5.5 billion ($5.9 billion) to strengthen Italian relations with Africa, in an attempt to boost energy ties and curb migration flows.

The premier hosted a meeting Monday of about 25 African heads of state and government as she seeks to forge an influential role for Rome as a political and economic bridge between the European Union and the African continent.

“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,” Meloni, who heads a right-wing coalition, told the conference at the Rome Senate.

“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 said.

Italy’s priorities will include energy, education and professional training, health, agriculture and water, Meloni said. The initial package, including loans, grants and guarantees, will be made up of about €3 billion from Italy’s climate fund and about €2.5 billion from development resources, she added.

The government, which aims to involve international financial institutions and other donor states, will by the end of the year set up “a new financial instrument” with state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti to facilitate private sector investment within the project, Meloni said.

Meloni announced her so-called “Mattei plan” for Africa shortly after she took office in 2022, but it has since been repeatedly delayed. The project is named after Enrico Mattei, the founder of Italian energy company Eni SpA which has often acted as a political and business link between Italy and the continent.

Group of Seven

The conference takes places as Meloni takes over the presidency of the Group of Seven countries this year.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, among attendees at the Rome event, backed Meloni’s initiative, saying “it comes complementary to our European Global Gateway,” the EU’s infrastructure plan which includes investment worth €150 billion for Africa.

Meloni highlighted the energy sector, saying: “The objective which Italy pursues is to help interested African nations to produce enough energy for their own needs and to export to Europe the excess part, combining two necessities: the African one, to develop this output and generate wealth, and the European one, to guarantee itself new energy supply routes.”

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, North Africa has become Italy’s biggest energy supplier, fueling economic relations between the two areas.