Italy pitches migration, energy plan at Africa summit

Nearly 100 migrants die in Mediterranean in 2024

AFRICAN leaders, yesterday, gathered at a Rome summit to hear Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s muchhyped plan for the continent, aimed at transforming Italy into an energy hub, and stopping migration.

Far- right leader Meloni, who came to power in 2022 on an anti- migrant ticket, has vowed to reshape relations with African countries, by taking a “non- predatory” approach inspired by Enrico Mattei, founder of Italy’s state- owned energy giant, Eni.

Meloni kicked off the summit, outlining a series of pilot projects as part of a development plan to forge a new relationship between Italy and Africa, geared at stimulating investment on the continent, as a way to stem migration across the Mediterranean Sea.

Meloni promised to reduce migration during her elec - toral campaign. However , her first year in power saw a big jump in the number of people who arrived on Italy’s shores, with some 157,600, having arrived last year, the largest number since 2016.

Representatives of over 25 countries attended the summit yesterday at the Italian Senate, dubbed “A bridge for common growth” along with European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, and representatives of United Nations agencies and the World Bank.

Meloni told them that Europe and Africa’s “destinies” were interconnected, and she was determined to cooperate “as equals, far from any predatory temptation, but also from that charitable approach to Africa that is illsuited to its extraordinary potential for development.”

Guests included African Union Commission chair, Moussa Faki Mahamat; babwe.

Other countries, including Algeria, Chad, Egypt and the Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC), were represented by ministers. Tunisian President, Kais Saied; Senegalese President, Macky Sall, as well as leaders of R epublic of Congo, Eritrea, Keny a, Maurit ania, Mozambique and Zim

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