Today we celebrate Africa Day and the sixtieth anniversary of the Organisation of African Unity, founded on 25th May 1963, that became the African Union in 2002.
Africa, a continent close to ours, too often forgotten, to which the Italian Government wants to draw the attention of the entire international community.
In order to do this, our privileged interlocutor is the African Union, which has worked hard to promote peace and stability on the continent and to stimulate the economy, including through the ambitious project of creating a free trade area that will connect 1.3 billion of people.
Italy wants to develop an equal partnership with African countries, based on shared growth objectives and mutual benefits.
In this context, what we call the “Mattei Plan” fits into, an Italian contribution to a wider European investment project, the “Marshall Plan“.
The Mattei Plan aims to support strategic sectors for Italy, such as agro-industry, the energy transition, job creation, the protection of cultural and identity heritage, while emphasizing the importance of respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Italy is a natural bridge between Europe and Africa.
For this reason, we want to become an energy hub in the Mediterranean, linking African energy supply with European demand.
In October, in line with this vision, we will host the Italy-Africa Conference in Rome, to promote initiatives at all levels: political, economic, cultural.
Italy is aware that the future of Africa lies in the younger generations.
Consequently, we consider it crucial to share knowledge and experience of our educational and academic system, to train the younger generations who will be at the helm of the continent.
We are also very concerned about the security situations, especially their repercussions on a humanitarian level: the armed conflict in Sudan, the economic crisis in Tunisia, the instability in Libya and the wave of irregular migrants that continues to pour on the Italian coasts.
I personally follow these dossiers and maintain direct contact with our international partners to facilitate the search for shared and timely solutions.
As demonstrated by the Conference on the Horn of Africa that we co-organized yesterday in New York with the United Nations, the United States, the United Kingdom and Qatar, Italy is at the forefront of maintaining international attention on the African continent.
We will continue to do so during our G7 Presidency next year.
Therefore, I would like to thank the Italian public officers, diplomats, military, doctors, missionaries, academics, entrepreneurs, volunteers, who work every day side by side with our African friends to develop the extraordinary potential of the continent and to create a future of prosperity.
We want to bring Africa even closer to Italy and help create shared development and growth.
Count on me, count on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and on the Italian Government to achieve this ambitious common goal.
Antonio Tajani
