Italy’s Africa investment plan gets a cool reception
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni unveiled investment proposals covering multiple African countries during a summit with the continent’s leaders in Rome in late January.
The total could amount to $5.95bn, Meloni claimed. “We believe it is possible to envision and write a new chapter in the history of our relationship, a cooperation among equals, far from any predatory imposition or charitable stance towards Africa,” she told leaders at the summit.
Italy has added diplomatic clout this year as it is presiding over the G7 group of advanced economies. But not everyone was impressed with the Italian initiative. Meloni’s claim of a “new chapter” has prompted scepticism from African officials who complained that the Italian leader had failed to involve them in designing her plan.
At the summit itself, Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairperson of the African Union Commission, bluntly told delegates:
“we would have liked to have been consulted.” He also stressed “the need to match actions with words,” adding pointedly that “we cannot be satisfied with promises that are often not kept.”
Italian job
The package forms part of the so-called “Mattei
Plan”, which takes its name from the founder of Italian oil and gas giant Eni, Enrico Mattei.
Meloni seeks to position Italy as a bridge between the two continents, receiving energy imports from Africa that may be re-exported to other parts of Europe. Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Europe has increasingly looked to Africa to help compensate for Russian gas imports.
Italy is also set to import renewable energy from
North Africa. While Meloni was short on specifics at the summit, she did unveil measures to develop the biofuels supply chain in Kenya. She emphasised projects already under way, such as the ELMED electricity interconnector between Tunisia and Italy and the planned H2 South Corridor to enable Africa to export hydrogen to Europe.
Beyond the energy sector, Meloni claimed that the Mattei Plan will also focus on education, healthcare, agriculture and water. She announced several small projects covering each of these themes.
The thinly-veiled subtext of the plan is Italy’s belief that investing in African development must form part of the strategy to combat migration across the Mediterranean. “Illegal mass immigration will never be stopped, human traffickers will never be defeated, unless the root causes that drive people to leave their homes are addressed,” she said.
Clarity about new money is absent
But critics point out that Meloni’s headline promise of $5.95bn includes loans and loan guarantees as well as grants.
The promise is dependent on persuading private sector companies to finance projects, and on convincing African governments that the terms of Italian loans are favourable.
There is also limited clarity on which projects are to be included in the plan, suggesting that alreadyannounced schemes, such as the ELMED interconnector, will be included in the $5.95bn claim.
A coalition of 80 African NGOs wrote to the Italian government to outline concerns over its “neocolonial” approach and to criticise the “exclusion of African perspectives and needs”. They lambasted Italy’s heavy focus on fossil fuel investment.
“The continued ‘dash for gas’ in Africa by Italy and other European nations is perpetuating the climate emergency as well as the security and food crisis which in turn forces African people to dangerously migrate to Europe,” the
NGOs said.