{"id":18411,"date":"2025-07-15T09:53:50","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T06:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africasustainabilitymatters.com\/?p=18411"},"modified":"2026-01-11T05:31:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T05:31:54","slug":"italys-5-5-billion-mattei-plan-aims-to-redefine-development-partnerships-with-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/2025\/07\/15\/italys-5-5-billion-mattei-plan-aims-to-redefine-development-partnerships-with-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy\u2019s $5.5 billion Mattei plan aims to redefine development partnerships with Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Italy has launched a \u20ac5.5 billion investment drive across several African countries in a bid to redefine its development relationship with the continent. Announced during a high-level summit in Rome co-hosted by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the initiative\u2014known as the Mattei Plan\u2014will fund large-scale infrastructure, energy, education, and digital transformation projects in Angola, Ethiopia, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique, and North Africa.<\/p>\n

The Mattei Plan is being positioned as a flagship of Italy\u2019s renewed Africa policy, aligned with the European Union\u2019s wider \u20ac150 billion Global Gateway strategy. The Global Gateway initiative aims to build sustainable partnerships and counterbalance the influence of other global powers in Africa through investment in resilient infrastructure and services.<\/p>\n

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At the Rome summit in June 2025, Meloni announced an initial \u20ac1.2 billion allocation toward Mattei\u2019s implementation. Specific projects include strengthening health systems in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, supporting environmental and higher education initiatives in Ethiopia, and expanding water infrastructure in the DRC. Ethiopia\u2019s participation also reflects alignment with its Homegrown Economic Reform agenda, while Angola views the plan as a means to accelerate its economic diversification.<\/p>\n

Digital connectivity is a central pillar. A key component is the extension of the EU-backed Blue-Raman undersea cable\u2014which connects Europe and Asia\u2014to East Africa. Spearheaded by Google and Italy\u2019s Sparkle, the cable is expected to enhance internet access in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, and Tanzania. In parallel, a Microsoft-backed AI Hub for Sustainable Development will support African startups focused on climate innovation and digital resilience.<\/p>\n

Read more:\u00a0Green Climate Fund approves historic $1.225\u202fbillion climate finance package<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the most ambitious aspects of the Mattei Plan is its backing of the Lobito Corridor, a multimodal transport route that will link Angola\u2019s Atlantic port to mining regions in DRC and Zambia. Alongside improvements to the China-funded TAZARA railway\u2014which connects Zambia to Tanzania\u2019s Dar es Salaam\u2014the Lobito Corridor could eventually offer a near-continuous trade route from coast to coast. The corridor is also intended to anchor a new investment zone targeting agribusiness, energy, and digital applications.<\/p>\n

Italy\u2019s financial commitment goes beyond direct investment. Through the African Development Bank (AfDB), Rome has committed to co-financing sovereign-guaranteed projects in areas such as industrialization, energy, environment, and agriculture. The Mattei Plan Financing Facility will draw on a combination of \u20ac3 billion from Italy\u2019s Climate Fund and \u20ac2.5 billion from its development cooperation budget. A further \u20ac235 million has been pledged in debt conversions to ease the financial burden on African governments.<\/p>\n

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The Mattei Plan is named after Enrico Mattei, founder of the Italian energy company ENI, who was known for advocating economic partnerships with African nations during the post-colonial period. While the plan has been framed as a development-first approach, it also serves Italy\u2019s strategic interests. As European nations seek alternatives to Russian gas, Italy is looking to secure stable energy flows from Africa. ENI is currently investing $26 billion in energy production across Algeria, Libya, Egypt, and Angola.<\/p>\n

Observers note that the Mattei Plan marks a shift in European-African relations. \u201cThis is essential in a polarized world where African partners have proved that they can work with old and new actors on an equal basis, beyond the traditional donor-recipient logic,\u201d wrote analysts Daniele Fattibene and Stefano Manservisi of Italy\u2019s Institute of International Affairs.<\/p>\n

Still, some African civil society actors have urged vigilance to ensure local communities benefit from these investments and are included in the planning process. Concerns have also been raised about whether the new plan genuinely breaks from past top-down development models or simply repackages geopolitical interests under a new label.<\/p>\n

Italy is expected to further outline its priorities at the Global Gateway Forum in Brussels in October 2025, where progress on the Mattei Plan will come under scrutiny from both African and European stakeholders.<\/p>\n

Read also:\u00a0Carbon Markets Africa Summit reveals packed programme featuring continent\u2019s entire carbon markets value chain<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Italy has launched a \u20ac5.5 billion investment drive across several African countries in a bid to redefine its development relationship with the continent. Announced during a high-level summit in Rome…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":18412,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[79,101,117],"tags":[147,338,444],"class_list":["post-18411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","category-international-news","category-sustainable-development","tag-africa","tag-circular-economy","tag-corporate-sustainability"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}