Mozambique: President Nyusi arrives in Rome for Italy-Africa Summit

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Mozambique: President Nyusi arrives in Rome for Italy-Africa Summit

6:47 CAT | 28 Jan 2024

Photo: Presidente Filipe Nyusi/Facebook

President Filipe Nyusi has arrived in Rome, Italy for the Italy-Africa Summit.

More than 20 heads of state and government will be in Rome for the event, which kicks off with a dinner on Sunday ahead of the official summit on Monday where Prime Minister Georgia Meloni will present Italy as the natural bridge between Africa and Europe.

According to Reuters, the Italian Prime Minister is set to outline an array of projects on Monday, ranging from health and education to infrastructure and agriculture, with energy lying at the heart of the so-called Mattei Plan, named after the late Enrico Mattei who founded Italian energy giant Eni in the 1950s, and has been billed as a cornerstone of Meloni’s foreign policy as she looks to enhance Rome’s diplomatic footprint.

On the sidelines of the Italy-Africa Summit, President Nyusi has also scheduled a bilateral meeting with the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella.

READ: Italy’s Meloni targets energy, migration with Africa plan

The Italian government will present the Mattei Plan tomorrow – Agenzia Nuova

Rome will host 23 heads of state and government and 57 international delegations. The initiative will be held in the hall of Palazzo Madama, seat of the Senate. The first control room of the Plan will start in February

The long-awaited Italy-Africa summit will be held tomorrow, January 29th.

It is the first time that the Conference, which until now has always taken place at ministerial level, has been elevated to the rank of summit of heads of state and government.

According to what Agenzia Nuova, a broad participation is expected with over 25 heads of state and government African nations, the African Union, as well as representatives of the European Union (all three presidents of the EU institutions will be there).

The presence of the European leaders is an important signal of the European Union’s support for the path traced by Italy. The main international organizations will also participate, starting from the UN, the international financial institutions, primarily the IMF, and the multilateral development banks.

It is the first international event to take place in Italy since the start of the G7 Presidency, useful to underline the importance that Italy gives to the partnership with the Nations of the African continent.

The summit will begin in Rome this evening.

The president of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, will receive the Heads of Delegation at the Quirinale. Tomorrow the work of the summit will begin which will be hosted at Palazzo Madama, seat of the Senate of the Republic.

The choice of involving the highest Italian institutions is a sign of the importance attributed to the event; in particular, the choice of the Senate underlines the centrality of Parliament, also in the definition of the Mattei Plan for Africa.

The summit will be the opportunity for the presentation of the general principles of the Plan, to which the government Meloni he has been working since his inauguration with a concerted effort and the involvement of all ministries.

A qualifying point of the Plan is the methodology, inspired by a “global” and “non-predatory” approach, aimed at providing responses to the needs represented by the African continent, recognizing the centrality of sharing sustainable socioeconomic development and responsibilities for stability and security as the foundation of lasting relationships of mutual benefit between Africa and Europe.

In a first phase the initiative will focus on pilot projects and in a second phase it will be extended to other nations on the continent. The intervention lines are: education/training; healthcare; water and hygiene; agriculture; power; infrastructure. Sharing and collaboration with African States will be central to this work, both in the development phases and in the definition and implementation phase of the projects that make up the Plan.

The Mattei Plan projects will be concentrated on areas considered particularly important for the development of the areas concerned. Sharing will be useful in order to identify initiatives that can generate returns – economic and social – destined to remain in the area and constitute a stable lever of resources for subsequent expansions.

The Italy-Africa summit is fundamental for gathering contributions, ideas and concrete proposals from African partners. Subsequently, in February the first control room foreseen by the decree establishing the governance of the Mattei Plan, which was converted by Parliament, will take place and at the same time the missions of the Mattei Plan structure in Africa will begin.

The government’s objective is to involve the entire Italian system in the Plan, starting from the entities that in various capacities deal and are dealing with Africa (the entire system of state-owned companies).

The executive intends to make them fully involved in this process United Nations, the European Union, the international financial institutions and the multilateral development banks. Furthermore, in the various meetings he had, President Meloni noted the interest of many of Italy’s partner states in contributing and supporting common projects.

In conclusion, this is important work that the Meloni government wants to carry forward because it is a challenge that not only affects Italy, but Europe and the entire international community.

Source: O País / Reuters/ Agenzia Nova