The Italian government announces the Mattei Plan

What is the Mattei Plan?

Giorgia Meloni presents the "Mattei Plan" at the Italy-Africa Conference, introduced by the government as an ambitious international cooperation project. The name pays homage to Enrico Mattei - founder of ENI - who, between the 1950s and 1960s, influenced Italy's energy policy, advocating for the principle that African and Asian countries, endowed with oil fields with which business was conducted, should also benefit from cooperation. Similarly, the Plan aims to strengthen Italy's - and Europe's - relations with Africa through a series of initiatives and projects aimed at promoting the economic, social, and infrastructural development of African countries.

A project preceded by a long diplomatic journey

The Mattei Plan has been discussed since the last election campaign, when the center-right wanted to convince Italians that by promoting development in Africa, Mediterranean migration flows would be curtailed. After the elections, Giorgia Meloni devoted significant diplomatic effort to promoting the plan, sparking lively interest both nationally - with the opposition raising doubts about its feasibility - and internationally - between Brussels' approval and criticism from the African Union. In February 2023, the Prime Minister claimed to have adopted the "Mattei formula" in concluding agreements with Libya and Algeria for the diversification of energy supply sources. Last summer, during the International Migration Conference in Rome, she proposed a similar approach. The idea remained vague, with little concrete insight.

The Italy-Africa Conference: What concrete achievements have been reached?

The plan was officially presented in the Senate between January 28 and 29 during the Italy-Africa Summit - an annual summit initiated by Paolo Gentiloni in 2017. The 54 African states were invited, of which 46 participated with the presence of heads of state, heads of government, or other delegations. Also in attendance were Brussels leaders - President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, President of the European Council Charles Michel, and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen - as well as representatives from the United Nations and other Multilateral Development Banks. Absent were the Sahel states - Niger, Nigeria, Gabon, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, and Burkina Faso - which are experiencing a period of political instability including wars and coups, and are heavily influenced militarily and diplomatically by Russia.

The total sum of initial funding proposed by the Mattei Plan amounts to 5.5 billion euros in credits, donations, and guarantees, three billion of which will be allocated by the Italian Climate Fund - therefore not additional resources. Giorgia Meloni explained that the plan will be developed on five pillars and cited concrete examples:

• Education and training (mentioning the establishment of a "large center of excellence for vocational training on renewable energies" in Morocco);
• Health (mentioning commitment in Ivory Coast to improve access to healthcare services);
• Agriculture (mentioning a satellite monitoring project on agriculture in Algeria and the construction of an agro-food center in Mozambique);
• Water (mentioning the construction of water purification plants in Tunisia);
• Energy (mentioning the construction of an underwater cable between Italy and Tunisia for electrical interconnection).

How was the plan received?

The Conference received positive reviews from EU leaders, who likened the plan to the European Global Gateway initiative, a 150-billion-euro Brussels initiative aimed at promoting energy development in Africa. However, criticisms were not lacking: opposition parties in Italy pointed out that the programs cited had already been initiated by ENI or other international entities, while the President of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, criticized the lack of consultation in the development of the plan. In general, African states' concern is that these projects may remain mere promises, leaving little concrete results - as has happened in the past. Giorgia Meloni clarified that this is not charity but a partnership between equals, whose concrete realization will be discussed with individual states.