2024-07-10 15:09:16
In a speech delivered at the opening of the summit, the President of the Italian Council of Ministers, Giorgia Meloni, highlighted the great potential and wealth of the African continent, particularly in terms of natural and human resources, believing that “the world cannot look to the future without turning its gaze towards Africa”.
Ms. Melon said that Italy bases its vision of cooperation with the African continent on the “Mattei Plan”, which, according to her, constitutes an effective and concrete platform for cooperation with African countries based on the principle of equality.
Through this plan, Rome also aims to put in place favorable conditions so that young Africans can consider their future in their countries without having to emigrate, and thus “put an end to human trafficking,” she assured.
For his part, the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, stressed that Africa is a priority for Italian foreign policy, which aims to establish an “effective and win-win” partnership.
Rome wants to see Africa become a major player on the international stage, he said, adding that the logic of economic diplomacy makes it “indispensable” to focus on the African continent.
According to the head of Italian diplomacy, sectors such as agriculture, renewable energy, infrastructure and digital and new technologies are among the main areas that need to be addressed with African countries, noting that “the stability and prosperity of Africa means the stability and prosperity of Italy”.
For his part, the President of the African Union (AU), Azali Assoumani, indicated that Italy has provided, in recent years, efficient support to African countries, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, noting that Rome “is among the largest investors in Africa, with an investment volume of 24 billion euros in 2018”.
Africa has “great hope” for Italy’s presidency of the G7 in 2024, as the country could play an “important” role in boosting investment and infrastructure in low-income countries, he said.
The President of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, noted that Africa is confronted, more than other continents, with numerous challenges in terms of living standards, security and climate, adding that the “Mattei Plan” constitutes an “effective” model reflecting Europe’s desire to help Africa in a concrete manner.
“Africa and Italy share problems with serious consequences. (…) We must bring a new perspective to the problem of migration and establish a space for development on the African continent,” he stressed.
The Italy-Africa Summit is part of a journey started by the Italian government since it took office through numerous bilateral meetings, the central moment of which was the Conference on Development and Migration, which took place in Rome in July and which launched the “Rome Process”.
This is a path that will continue with the Italian Presidency of the G7 in 2024, of which Africa will be one of the main themes.
During the Conference, Italy will share with African countries the guidelines of the Mattei Plan, which Rome intends to develop with representatives of African governments and present to other European states as a model of cooperation and development on an equal footing.
The Italy-Africa Summit represents an opportunity to strengthen the foundations of the relationship between the two parties, which is based on the main pillars: food security, culture and training, energy security, economic and infrastructure development, the fight against human trafficking and terrorism and governance of legal immigration.
In this spirit of partnership, the Italy-Africa Conference presents itself as a “discussion forum to share at the highest institutional level the responses to the common challenges of security, stability and growth and to translate these into concrete initiatives.”
The summit’s work will be structured around five main themes, namely “Cooperation, economic and infrastructure development”, “vocational training and cultural promotion”, “migration flows and the fight against terrorism”, “food security challenges” and “energy security”.
2024-07-10 15:09:16