Today's "Italy-Africa. A bridge for common growth" summit will contribute to a radical change in relations between the two shores of the Mediterranean. No more welfare, nor neocolonialist "predatory" approaches but, finally, a real push for economic development and agro-industrial. With these intentions, the italian Government opened the summit this morning in the Senate of the Republic by the address of the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

"Europe and the whole world cannot think about the future without taking Africa into consideration, our future inevitably also depends on the African continent. Aware of this, we want to do our part", said Meloni initially. The intention, she added, is to "write a new page in our relations, cooperation as equals, far from any predatory temptation and charitable approach".

Recalling that Africa "will have a place of honor in the Italian G7 presidency agenda", Meloni urged us to "dismantle some wrong narratives, such as the one that claims Africa is a poor continent. This is not the case", she commented , Africa "has great resources and is the youngest continent, with enormous potential. Italy, Europe and the whole world cannot think about the future without taking Africa into account".

The Prime Minister then returned to the Mattei Plan for Africa, indicated as "a concrete plan of strategic interventions, concentrated on a few medium-long term priorities, education and training, health and agriculture, water and energy. We have identified some nations of the sub-Saharan and North African quadrant" which will then be expanded "following an incremental logic".

It is not, said Meloni, a plan "established from above as has often happened in the past" but a "shared programmatic platform: sharing is one of the key principles". The Mattei Plan "can count on 5.5 billion euros between credits, gift operations and guarantees: around 3 billion from the Italian climate fund and 2.5 billion and a half from the development cooperation fund".

Other key points of the prime minister's speech: the "right not to emigrate", accompanied by the "war against smugglers and at the same time offering alternatives in Africa, with training, work and legal migration paths".

The Prime Minister then recalled Kenya's project for the development of biofuels "which aims to involve around 400 thousand farmers by 2027. But the exchange works if there are connection infrastructures between the two continents. We have been working together with the EU for some time", she continued, "I am thinking of the Elmed electrical interconnection with Tunisia or the new H2South corridor for the transport of hydrogen to Central Europe via Italy".