A summit in Rome saw African leaders convene on Monday, where Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni unveiled her much-anticipated plan for the continent. This plan aims to position Italy as an energy hub and address migration issues. Meloni, a far-right leader who rose to power in 2022 on an anti-migrant platform, is committed to reshaping Italy's relations with African nations through a non-predatory approach inspired by Enrico Mattei, the founder of Italy's state-owned energy giant Eni.

The so-called Mattei Plan seeks to establish Italy as a crucial link between Africa and Europe, facilitating the flow of energy northward while fostering investment in the south to deter migration. Meloni emphasized the objective of presenting African countries with a new vision of development, characterized by a non-predatory and peer-to-peer approach. The summit, titled "A bridge for common growth," was attended by representatives from over 25 countries, as well as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and officials from United Nations agencies and the World Bank.

Notable attendees included African Union Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat, Tunisian President Kais Saied, Senegal President Macky Sall, and presidents from several other African nations. Italy, holding the presidency of the G7 group of nations this year, has pledged to prioritize African development, partly in response to the growing influence of other global powers in the continent.

Meloni's plan involves initiating pilot projects with the aim of expanding them across Africa, focusing on investments in energy, infrastructure, agriculture, water, health, and education. However, experts have expressed concerns about Italy's ability to garner support for this initiative from the European Union, which announced its own Africa package worth 150 billion euros in 2022. Despite a reduction in foreign aid funding by Meloni's government last year, a more modest 2.8 million euros per year from 2024 to 2026 has been earmarked for the Mattei Plan.

Meloni's vision involves transforming Italy into an energy gateway, capitalizing on the demand from other European countries seeking to reduce their reliance on Russian gas following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Critics have raised objections, citing the plan's heavy focus on fossil fuels and advocating instead for a renewable energy drive to address the energy needs of over 40 percent of Africans who currently lack access to energy.

While Meloni and her coalition partner, Matteo Salvini of the far-right League, have pledged to prevent migrant boats from North Africa, the number of migrant landings in Italy has actually increased, from approximately 105,000 in 2022 to nearly 158,000 in 2023. The Mattei Plan aims to address the root causes of migration and encourage origin countries to enter into readmittance agreements for migrants.

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