Italy is creating a $5.95 billion (5.5 billion euro) fund to boost its energy ties with Africa and support healthcare and education there in a bid to stem migrant flows from North Africa to Italian shores, Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Monday. Energy is one of the five priorities for Italy in Africa, alongside education, healthcare, agriculture, and water resources, Meloni said. Of the initial $6 billion funding for the ‘Mattei plan’, around $3.24 billion (3 billion euros) will come from the Italian climate fund and about $2.7 billion (2.5 billion euros) from resources for development cooperation, the Italian prime minister added. Eni has been particularly active in securing more natural gas supply for Europe from Africa and has fast-tracked projects in Africa to meet Europe’s gas demand in the absence of Russian pipeline deliveries. Early last year, Eni’s chief executive Claudio Descalzi told the Financial Times in an interview that Europe should look to Africa for a “south-north” energy axis that would deliver gas from Africa to the EU.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 29, 2024 16:37 UTC