Africa-Press – Uganda. Italy’s hard-right Giorgia Meloni revealed her long-trailed development plan for Africa at the weekend, a “non-predatory” approach which critics warn favours European priorities and pockets.
Prime Minister Meloni, who came to power in 2022 on an anti-migrant ticket, hopes to posit Italy as a key bridge between Africa and Europe, funnelling energy north while exchanging investment in the south for deals aimed at preventing migration.
Heads of numerous African countries were expected in the Italian capital for a summit on yesterday and today, along with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and representatives of United Nations agencies and the World Bank. Uganda’s Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja arrived in Rome on Saturday for the summit.
Ms Meloni’s so-called Mattei Plan is named after Enrico Mattei, the founder of Eni — Italy’s state-owned energy giant.
In the 1950s, he advocated a co-operative stance towards African countries, helping them to develop their natural resources.
“A certain paternalistic and predatory approach has not worked so far. What needs to be done in Africa is not charity but strategic partnerships, as equals,” Ms Meloni, 47, said earlier this month.
Rome holds the presidency of the G7 group of nations this year and has vowed to make African development a central theme, in part to increase influence in a continent where powers such as China, Russia, India, Japan and Turkey have been expanding their political clout.
Experts warned Italy may struggle to get key support for a new deal from the European Union, which unveiled its own Africa package worth 150 billion euros ($160 billion) in 2022.
Ms Meloni’s government, which cut funds for foreign aid cooperation last year, has formally allocated a more modest 2.8 million euros a year from 2024 to 2026 for the Mattei Plan.
Ms Meloni wants to transform Italy into an energy gateway, capitalising on demand from fellow European countries seeking to slash their dependence on Russian gas following Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Criticism
Some 40 African civil society organisations warned last week that the plan’s “principal objective is to expand Italy’s access to Africa’s fossil gas for Europe and strengthen Italian companies’ role in exploiting Africa’s natural and human resources”.
Dean Bhekumuzi Bhebhe, head of the Don’t Gas Africa campaign, said Rome’s “blind ambition… disregards the urgent climate crisis and the voices of African civil society”.
The organisations called instead for a renewable energy drive to supply the needs of over 40 percent of Africans who have no access to energy at all.
For More News And Analysis About Uganda Follow Africa-Press
