Italy announces $6bn plan to strengthen partnership with Africa at Summit

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni launched a summit of African leaders to demonstrate Italy’s ambitious development plan for the region, which her government thinks will reduce migratory flows, diversify energy supplies, and build a new link between Europe and Africa.

But the plan got a lukewarm and cautious reception initially, with African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat telling the summit that African countries would have liked to have been consulted before Italy rolled out its plan.

Two dozen African leaders, top European Union and United Nations officials and representatives from international lending institutions were in Rome for the summit, the first major event of Italy’s Group of Seven presidency.

Italy, which for decades has been ground zero in Europe’s migration debate, has been promoting its development plan as a way to create security and economic conditions that will create jobs in Africa and discourage its young people from making dangerous migrations across the Mediterranean Sea.

In her opening, Meloni outlined a series of pilot projects in individual countries that she said would enable Africa to become a major exporter of energy to Europe, to help wean it off its dependence on Russian energy following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Meloni, Italy’s first hard-right leader since the end of World War II, has made curbing migration a priority of her government.

But her first year in power saw a big jump in the numbers of people who arrived on Italy’s shores, with some 160,000 last years.

The government’s plan, named after Enrico Mattei, founder of state-controlled oil and gas giant Eni, seeks to expand cooperation with Africa beyond energy but in a non-predatory way.

The plan involves pilot projects in areas such as education, health care, water, sanitation, agriculture and infrastructure.

“It’s a cooperation of equals, far from any predatory temptation but also far from the charitable posture with Africa that rarely is reconciled with its extraordinary potential for development,” Meloni told the leaders.

Italy, which under fascism was a colonial power in North Africa, has previously hosted ministerial-level African meetings.

But Monday’s summit held at the Italian Senate to demonstrate the commitment of all Italian public institutions to the project marks the first time it’s under the head of state or government level.

The summit includes presentations by Italian ministers detailing various aspects of the plan.

A gala dinner hosted by Italian President Sergio Mattarella was held on Sunday night.

As the summit began, Italian green and opposition politicians prepared a counter-conference in Italy’s lower chamber of parliament to condemn the Mattei Plan as a neocolonial “empty box” that intends to exploit Africa’s natural resources once more.

Along with the Mattei Plan, Meloni’s government has negotiated contentious agreements with specific nations in an attempt to reduce Italy’s migratory burden.

An EU-backed agreement with Tunisia seeks to reduce departures through economic development initiatives and legal migration prospects, while a bilateral agreement with Albania asks for the establishment of centers in Albania to handle asylum applications for Italy-bound migrants rescued at sea.