President Meloni’s press statement at ‘The Mattei Plan for Africa and the Global Gateway: A common effort with the African Continent’ Summit

Good afternoon everyone, and thank you for being here on this very special, very beautiful day, for which I must of course first of all thank the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who has organised and hosted this event with us.

I would like to extend my special thanks to Chairperson of the African Union Commission Ali Youssouf, who is here with us. I also wish to thank the other participants in what were very useful and very fruitful discussions this morning. I wish to thank Vice President Mpango of Tanzania, Prime Minister Tuluka of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Angola Téte, Minister of Finance and National Planning of Zambia Musokotwane, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, World Bank Group President Banga, African Development Bank Group President Adesina, and Africa Finance Corporation President Zubairu.

My sincere thanks for accepting our invitation and for contributing to the success of this initiative by Italy and the European Union.

As I said this morning during my opening address, today’s event embodies the spirit of the Mattei Plan for Africa, representing two key principles of Italy’s strategy.

The first of these principles is, of course, sharing. We have always thought of this strategy as a way to build a new paradigm in relations with African nations, meaning cooperation among equals based on shared priorities.

The second point is internationalisation. At the start of this year, I told the Italian press that this would be this year’s goal with regard to the Mattei Plan. We have always been aware that it would be crucial to go beyond just Italy’s relationship with the African continent, and that the challenge would be to create more and more synergies and collaborations with international partners. It is clear that the first natural partner for this strategy could only be the European Union with its Global Gateway.

I would like to highlight that today’s event is just the latest example of this partnership, the goal of which is to establish effective and concrete cooperation with Africa. Together with Ursula von der Leyen, we have already shown this through the memoranda signed with Tunisia and Egypt and the extensive work we are trying to carry out.

We have taken on this responsibility for a simple reason: we believe that Africa is a continent that is crucial for our future, more than anywhere else, and where we, as Italians and Europeans, are called upon to make a difference, and we can make a difference. We believe the challenge is to create a new narrative about Africa, a land which, in my view, has above all been misunderstood for a long time and in many cases exploited; we are instead talking about a very rich continent that offers huge potential and great opportunities, and we are certain it can amaze if it is put in a position to be able to make the most of its extraordinary resources. This is the vision we have sought to implement with the Mattei Plan: a vision that wants to give Africa the role it deserves, choosing to build real partnerships based on respect, reciprocity, identity and the freedom of each nation to determine its own future. We are therefore obviously enthusiastic that the European Union shares this vision of ours.

I have personally taken this approach to all multilateral fora too, the latest being last week’s G7 Summit in Canada, but also the G20 and United Nations. For us, the challenge is for Africa to be able to grow and prosper based on its own riches, to be able to grow and prosper by processing its own raw materials, to be able to grow and prosper by cultivating its own fields, to be able to grow and prosper by providing its young people with prospects, also to combat the root causes that drive so many, too many, young people to pay criminal organisations for dangerous journeys in search of a better life that our societies are often not even able to offer them.

In order to strengthen this vision even further, we have decided to focus our work on three strategic projects, which formed the basis of today’s discussions and the agreements you have seen.

The first is the ‘Lobito Corridor’, the major physical and digital infrastructure system which aims to connect western Africa with eastern Africa, by linking Angola and Zambia, via the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the possibility of extending the project to the Port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. This challenge is as ambitious as it is complex and fully involves the European Union, as well as the United States, for example, which recently announced its intention to confirm a EUR 4 billion commitment for this objective. This initiative clearly aims to connect African markets with global markets, ensuring the transport of goods, strategic minerals, agricultural products and energy resources.

The success of this initiative clearly depends on political willingness, just as it clearly depends on our ability to involve the private sector as well. This is why I am very satisfied and would like to thank the CEOs of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and SACE, Scannapieco and Ricci, for the EUR 250 million agreement they have signed today with the Africa Finance Corporation. I’m equally pleased that the European Union will also be announcing its commitment in this regard, as this is an investment that will create jobs, trade and stability, that will create dignity; building your own future, in the place where you were born and raised, is what allows a nation to prosper and choose its own path.

The second project regards agriculture. We have chosen to address a specific segment: the development of coffee production chains, strengthening local value chains and protecting small-scale producers. We are doing so by signing an agreement that provides for a European guarantee worth approximately EUR 110 million to support Italy’s efforts to revive sustainable agriculture, with a specific focus on the coffee production chain in several African nations. Our goal is not to create dependency, but rather to generate self-sufficiency. A strong nation is a nation that produces, processes, competes.

The third major area around which cooperation between the Mattei Plan and the Global Gateway revolves is the development of digital interconnections and infrastructure.

At a time when, as we all know, our societies are driven by data, the synergy between Italy and the European Union will enable the Blue Raman cable to be extended towards eastern Africa. This cable forms a maritime backbone aiming to connect India to European economies via the Middle East and the Mediterranean. During this Summit, an agreement was signed that will allow Sparkle, with the support of the European Commission and European Investment Bank, to include Africa in this connection too. We strongly believe in this project, moving in the direction of a truly global interconnection which stretches from Asia to Europe, and in which the Mediterranean is central.

In this context, there is also another project which I consider very important: the AI Hub for Sustainable Development. This initiative was launched as part of the Italian Presidency of the G7 last year, in partnership with global leaders in this sector such as Microsoft, and with operational support from the United Nations Development Programme. This morning, the AI Hub was officially opened in Rome and will involve hundreds of African start-ups, to apply AI solutions to the priority areas of the Mattei Plan: health, agriculture, energy, water, education and training, and infrastructure. The European Commission, through another agreement, has announced its intention to participate in the AI Hub’s Board of Directors, and so my thanks again to Ursula.

I would also like to take this opportunity to announce that we are working on a concrete initiative to address the issue of African nations’ debt levels. This issue is of central importance for the continent’s development and, if it is not addressed appropriately, it risks undermining all our efforts. This initiative provides for the conversion of the total amount of debt of the least developed nations, according to World Bank criteria, and a 50% reduction of the debt of low and middle-income nations over the next ten years. The entire operation will enable us to convert approximately EUR 235 million of debt into development projects to be implemented at local level, over a ten-year period. I am particularly proud of this initiative and to be announcing it during the Jubilee year on a topic that was especially close to Pope Francis’s heart; he considered this to be not only an economic matter but one of justice, human dignity and collective conscience.

What we have built today is not just a package of projects; it is a pact between free nations that are choosing to cooperate, because they believe in the values of dignity, labour and freedom. It shows that, when Europe acts with courage and when Italy contributes its vision and concreteness, results are achieved, and I believe we should be truly proud of this work.

The agreements we have signed today are worth a total of EUR 1.2 billion in concrete commitments, and we have already scheduled two more engagements to continue along this path: I’ll be back in Africa, in Ethiopia, in July, and the second edition of the Italia-Africa Summit will also be held in Africa in the first half of 2026. We are therefore not talking about a one-off initiative, about one single thing, but rather a process and, as can be seen today, an extremely concrete one at that. So, my sincere thanks. Over to you, Ursula, the floor is yours.

[Courtesy translation]