Italian PM targets energy and migration
ITALIAN Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni unveiled an investment plan worth more than €5.5 billion (about R111bn) to strengthen Italian relations with Africa, in an attempt to boost energy ties and curb migration flows.
The premier hosted a meeting yesterday 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 EU 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 €3bn from Italy’s climate fund and about €2.5bn 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. She announced her “Mattei plan” for Africa after she took office in 2022, but it has since been delayed. The project is named after Enrico Mattei, the founder of Italian energy company Eni SpA, which has acted as a political and business link between Italy and the continent.
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 backed Meloni’s initiative, saying “it comes complementary to our European Global Gateway”, the EU’s infrastructure plan which includes investment worth €150bn 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”.