Finally the day of the Mattei Plan has come. Giorgia Meloni presented the government’s project at the Italy-Africa summit. The Prime Minister talks about the Mattei Plan in his inauguration speech but does not provide further details. After the decree defining its mission and governance structure was turned into law, we now know a little more about the Mattei Plan, including costs and projects on the African continent.
The Italy-Africa Summit is the first international event hosted by Italy since taking over the G7 Presidency.
The medium and long-term goal we set for ourselves is to show how aware we are of the fate of our two continents… pic.twitter.com/ENN8CZK0Ji
— Giorgia Meloni (@GiorgiaMeloni) January 29, 2024
5 pillars of the Mattei Plan for Africa
The Meloni government’s Mattei Plan for Africa looks at the medium and long term. According to the Prime Minister, “we must also adequately address the logic of resources being spent on countless micro-interventions that do not produce significant results”. The plan has five “pillars” designed as intervention sectors:
- Education and training: Promoting the training and updating of teachers and launching new vocational and training courses in line with the needs of the labor market. Cooperation with small and medium-sized Italian companies is also envisaged;
- Agriculture: Interventions will need to reduce malnutrition rates, encourage the development of agro-food chains and support the development of non-fossil biofuels. “In this framework, combating and adapting to climate change through the development of family farming, the protection of forestry heritage and integrated agriculture are considered fundamental,” the government explains in a document;
- Health: Interventions aim to strengthen health systems, improve accessibility and quality of services, as well as develop prevention and prevention strategies and systems.
controlling “threats to health, especially epidemics and natural disasters”; - Energy: The Meloni government claims that the primary goal described in this section is to make Italy an “energy hub, a real bridge between Europe and Africa”. Interventions will focus on the “climate-energy nexus” and focus on energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy. The plan also envisages the on-site development of technologies applied to energy through the establishment of innovation centers where Italian companies can select local start-ups and thus support employment;
- Water: Interventions will include the opening of wells powered by photovoltaic systems, as well as the maintenance and investments of distribution networks and awareness-raising activities on the use of drinking water.
The five pillars will be developed within 4 years but there are no other details about it. With the appointment of Fabrizio Saggio as the “Man of the Mattei Plan” to head the mission structure, the government will have to report to Parliament on implementation every year.
Meloni government’s first projects in Africa
At this stage, some African countries, divided between the sub-Saharan and North African quadrants, were announced where the Mattei Plan would begin. We will begin to see the five pillars implemented in these countries. A “major center of excellence” for vocational training in renewable energy will be created in Morocco.
Regarding schools, there is a plan to strengthen the links between the Italian school system and that of African countries, and the infrastructural redevelopment of schools will be carried out in Tunisia as early as 2024, with the training and updating of teachers, student exchanges and teachers. In Tunisia, efforts are continuing to strengthen non-conventional water treatment stations to irrigate an area of 8 thousand hectares and to establish a training center for the agriculture-food sector.
In Ivory Coast, the aim is to improve the accessibility and quality of primary health care, with special attention to children, mothers and the most vulnerable. Later, a satellite monitoring project for agriculture will be launched in Algeria, and an agri-food center will be built in Mozambique to increase the excellence and export of local products.
It is planned to support wheat, soybean, corn and sunflower production in an area 200 kilometers away from Alexandria in Egypt, with investments in machinery, seeds, technology and new growing methods, and vocational training.
In the Republic of Congo, there is a commitment to build wells and water distribution networks powered solely by renewable energy, especially for agricultural purposes. Environmental remediation of some areas and water restoration in Ethiopia will also begin through training and technical support to local universities.
On energy, Giorgia Meloni spoke about the initiatives and infrastructures to develop the biofuel supply chain in Kenya, which will cover approximately 400 thousand farmers by 2027: “This change will work if there are also connection infrastructures between the two continents,” said the Prime Minister with Italy Referring to the Elmed electricity connection between Tunisia and the H2 Southern Corridor for the transportation of hydrogen from North Africa to Central Europe via Italy.
Costs of the Mattei Plan
“The Mattei Plan can count on an initial donation of over €5.5 billion between loans for gift operations and guarantees,” Giorgia Meloni said during the opening of the Italy-Africa conference. The bulk of these funds (3 billion euros) will be “diverted” from the Italian Climate Fund. The remaining 2.5 billion will come in lieu of development cooperation.
By now the “management” costs of the Plan were known, they were contained in the decree approved by the government and enacted by the Parliament: 8.4 million euros for the duration of the Plan, approximately 2.8 million euros per year until 2026. “Of course this is not enough, so we want to involve international institutions and other donor states,” Meloni added. Meloni highlighted the backdrop of the G7 chaired by Italy, where Africa “will have an honored place on the Italian presidential agenda, a definite foreign policy choice.”
Source: Today IT

Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.