“The Italy-Africa Summit was a moment of sharing”. Thus the president of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, in his speech at the Public Assembly of Confindustria Assafrica & Mediterraneo.
“Africa – said Adesina – is the best investment the world can make now and in the future”. The AfDB president then cited various data to give a measure of the continent’s growth not only in terms of population and growth of the middle class but also in terms of the economy and specific sectors such as those linked to digital and renewable energy, highlighting in particular the AfDB’s largest project in the pipeline, Desert to power, which will bring solar energy to 250 million inhabitants of the Sahelian region.
“The energy transition – he added – is also built with minerals and metals of which the continent is rich and which the continent can transform at lower costs than other areas of the world”.
Returning to the Mattei Plan and in particular to its financial allocation of approximately 5.5 billion euros, Adesina said that this figure can be considered “as a lever that will allow” his own institution of which Italy is a partner “to attract additional funds.”
Adesina then highlighted the importance of the private sector for the growth of the continent and presented the various projects of his bank on the continent in the infrastructure, energy and agro-industrial fields: “Africa and Europe are important trading partners, in 2022 exports from Africa to the European Union amounted to 203 billion dollars, while imports from Europe to Africa amounted to 174 billion dollars. This is a significant advantage for Italian companies that want to do business in Africa.” The AfDB president recalled how foreign direct investments from Italy to Africa have reached 30 billion dollars in 2022: “However – he added – this represents only 5% of Italy’s total foreign direct investments at global. The private sector and Italian and European Union companies should invest much more in Africa.”
A moment from the Confindustria Assafrica & Mediterraneo Assembly
At the opening of the assembly, it was the Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani who in turn underlined how Africa is a priority of Italian foreign policy, “committed to starting a concrete partnership between equals through our economic diplomacy, which wants and must bring to mutually beneficial growth.”
“The path outlined by the Mattei Plan is our north star”, added Tajani, recalling the initiatives recently undertaken by the Farnesina: the recent opening of a new Embassy in Mauritania, three new offices of the Ice Agency in Dakar, Nairobi and Lagos and the upcoming openings of Sace, Simest and Cassa Depositi e Prestiti offices in some countries in North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa.
In his introductory speech, the President of Confindustria Assafrica & Mediterraneo, Massimo Dal Checco, explained how the Association’s activities fit fully into the strategy of relaunching relations with the African continent promoted by Italian institutions: “Italy can promote of an innovative model that concretely meets the long-term economic growth needs of African countries and is in line with their interests of shared prosperity and security. It is therefore necessary to facilitate the Italian private sector as much as possible, also through new financial instruments, so that it can contribute to creating development and growth on the continent”. It is in this context, according to Dal Checco, that the Mattei Plan for Africa is inserted, “which relaunches the collaborative strategic approach with the countries of the African continent, to initiate and strengthen stable, long-term industrial partnerships”.