Brussels – The Mattei Plan as a European vision, not just an Italian one, of building relationships based on equal cooperation between the Old Continent and Africa. This is what emerged from the event entitled “The Mattei Plan and Global Gateway: a new model for Europe-Africa relations” organised at the European Parliament in Brussels. To emphasise this point, first and foremost were the presidents of the Council, Giorgia Meloni, and of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, as well as the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica.
“The Mattei Plan is not just an Italian initiative, but is now a strategy with a European and international scope, which looks far ahead and is gaining increasing support. Today the Mattei Plan is no longer an idea, but an operational reality that is producing concrete results,” Prime Minister Meloni immediately pointed out. Metsola agrees, and according to her Erico Mattei’s “simple but revolutionary idea of cooperation based on mutual understanding and shared growth is the message that the Mattei Plan embodies,” namely that of “a modern, confident, and aware Europe that chooses to collaborate with its neighbours because Africa today has extraordinary potential.” Therefore, the Mattei Plan is “a real turning point where Europe does not speak ‘to Africa’, but ‘with Africa'”.
On the part of the European Commission, it is Šuica who brings the Mattei Plan, the Global Gateway and the Pact for the Mediterranean together—”they share the same DNA”, she says—explaining that “they are based on partnership, sustainability, and win-win opportunities and they aim to promote prosperity and stability by investing in people, such as education and skills, and in sustainable infrastructure, such as energy, water resilience, and digital or transport connectivity.”
In the video message sent for the occasion, the premier recalls the direct involvement of now 14 African nations in the Mattei Plan, with “over one billion euros of resources already committed by Italy to projects on the African continent,” and “the synergy with the Global Gateway worth over one billion two hundred million euros.” She lists the four “major strategic initiatives”—the realisation of the Lobito Infrastructure Corridor, to connect West Africa to East Africa; the development of coffee production chains in several African nations; the extension to East Africa of Blue Raman, the cable system that will connect India to France via Italy, Greece, Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, and Oman; and the AI Hub for Sustainable Development in Rome, which aims to involve hundreds of African start-ups to apply artificial intelligence to the various sectors of the Plan.
“We are carrying out this work because we are convinced that investing in the future of Africa means investing in the future of Europe itself and we are doing so through a method that has become a reference point at the European level, as is also demonstrated by the presentation a few weeks ago in Brussels of the Global Gateway Hub, the permanent platform that will coordinate European projects and investments in the African continent,” Meloni points out. A commitment that will also be underpinned by the EU-African Union Summit, on 24 and 25 November in Luanda, Angola, which is seen as “an opportunity to develop this vision even further.”
Metsola highlights the continent’s potential beyond the Mediterranean. “It is home to twelve of the twenty fastest-growing economies on the planet. It is a young, dynamic, and creative continent—almost 60 per cent of the population is under the age of twenty-five—and is generating unprecedented economic dynamism in technology, culture, and sustainability, opening new markets in agriculture, energy, construction, services, and digital platforms.” All elements that translate “into opportunities, for African entrepreneurs, especially the youngest, but also for Italian and European companies ready to invest, grow, and innovate.” This is already evident for the president of the EU Parliament: “From smart agriculture to artificial intelligence centres, from biofuels to telemedicine, the Mattei Plan is turning ideas into action, creating jobs, new markets and real opportunities for growth on both sides of the Mediterranean.”
In this framework, the president emphasises both the “essential” role of the EU Parliament—with its “networks, diplomatic channels, and regular exchanges with African parliaments, the productive world, and financial institutions”—and, on the other hand, the EU’s mobilisation of “billions of euros of investment for Africa,” for which “by aligning Italian efforts to these broader European initiatives, our impact can be even greater.” An action, in Metsola’s eyes, that is in no way detached from the management of migratory flows: “If Africa grows, the conviction of its population not to abandon it grows” and “at the European Parliament we are doing our part to quickly complete the regulatory framework that will make the management of the migratory phenomenon more rational, and I am referring to the European list of safe countries of origin, the revision of the concept of safe third countries and the Return Regulation.”
In general, in this game, “Italy will continue to be a bridge between Europe and Africa, providing the expertise of its companies, the strength of its institutions, and its great tradition of dialogue,” says Meloni. A necessary action for Metsola, who shines a spotlight on the advance of other powers, in particular Beijing, on the African continent: “Europe must act now, because others have not stood idly by. For example, on “rare earths” and “on infrastructure, there are those who started investing decades ago, and if we want Europe to remain a credible and relevant interlocutor, we must also be there, but with a different approach, based on a long-term vision. For this, I would like to thank the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, for her leadership and for showing that this new drive can start from the South.”
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
