Local authorities and NGOs are being invited to submit sustainable development tenders mainly for Africa to Italy's overseas aid agency (AICS) for grants worth 180 million euros at an event at the foreign ministry in Rome on Thursday.
A total 85 percent of the government grants will be awarded for schemes to boost development in Africa "in keeping with the spirit of" the government's 5.5 billion 'Mattei' plan to boost the continent's growth, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The remaining 60 million euros of the AICS sustainable development grants are earmarked for local authorities, the statement said.
Deputy foreign minister Edmondo Cirielli will open Thursday's event entitled 'Territorial partnerships: the 2024 call for tenders and the role of local authorities in sustainable development', according to the statement.
Lazio and Emilia-Romagna regional governors Francesco Rocca and Stefano Bonaccini, the Umbria region's province of Terni's president Laura Pernazza, Lombardy regional undersecretary for international and European relations, Raffaele Cattaneo, and private business lobby Confindustria's Assafrica assocation president Massimo Dal Checco will also attend the event.
