The head of the Italian government Giorgia Meloni inaugurated, this Monday, a summit of African leaders aimed at promoting a development plan for the African continent with the aim of stemming migratory flows.
Giorgia Meloni presented a series of pilot projects in different countries which, according to her, would create the jobs and conditions necessary for Africa becomes a major energy exporter to Europein order to help it get rid of its dependence on Russian energy after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We want to unleash African energy to guarantee young generations a right that has been denied to them until now“, said Mr. Meloni in his opening speech at the summit. “_Because here in Europe we talk a lot about the right to emigrate, but we rarely talk about guaranteeing the right not to be forced to emigrate_r.
More than 25 African leaderssenior officials from the European Union and the United Nations, as well as representatives of international lending organizations were present in Rome for this summit, the first major event of the Italian presidency of the G7.
Italy, which for decades was ground zero for the immigration debate in Europe, presented its development plan as a way to create security and economic conditions necessary for job creation in Africa and discourage young people from undertaking dangerous migrations across the Mediterranean Sea.
Increase in migratory flow
Ms. Meloni, Italy’s first hard-right leader since the end of World War II, has made fight against immigration a priority of his government. But his first year in power was marked by a sharp increase in the number of people arriving on Italian shores, with some 160,000 people Last year.
The government’s plannamed after Enrico Mattei, founder of Eni, the state-controlled oil and gas giant, aims to expand thecooperation with Africa beyond energybut of non-predatory way. It plans pilot projects in areas such as education, healthcare, water, sanitation, agriculture and infrastructure.
“It is a cooperation of equals, far from any predatory temptation, but also far from the charitable attitude towards Africa, rarely reconcilable with its extraordinary development potential.Mr. Meloni told the leaders.
Former colonial power
Italy, which was a colonial power in North Africa under fascism, has already hosted African meetings at ministerial level. But Monday’s summit, held in the Italian Senate to demonstrate the commitment of all Italian public institutions to the project, is the first to be held at the level of the head of state or government.
The summit includes presentations by Italian ministers detailing various aspects of the plan. A gala dinner hosted by Italian President Sergio Mattarella took place on Sunday evening.
As the summit began, Italian green legislators and the opposition have planned a counter-conference in the lower house of the Italian parliament to criticize the Mattei plan, which they consider to be a “empty box” neocolonial approach aimed at re-exploiting Africa’s natural resources.
Alongside the Mattei plan, Mr. Meloni’s government has reached controversial agreements with some countries to try to ease the migration burden which weighs on Italy. An EU-backed deal with Tunisia aims to curb departures through economic development projects and legal migration opportunities, while a bilateral deal with Albania plans the creation of centers in Albania to process asylum requests from migrants from Italy and rescued at sea.