Italy's new 5.5 billion euro 'Mattei' blueprint to develop and stabilise Africa is a focus of premier Giorgia Meloni's planned visit to Egypt on Sunday, according to the prime minister's office.
Egypt is one of nine African countries where pilot projects are being launched under the 'Mattei' plan named after Italian major Eni's founder Enrico Mattei. During the first stage of the plan, projects are also being rolled out in Algeria, Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique and Tunisia, said a statement by Meloni's office.
The 'Mattei' plan's core areas are education, training, health, water, sanitation, agriculture, infrastructure and the energy sector, where the government plans to forge 'non-predatory' partnerships and make Italy a major hub, distributing gas from North Africa and the Mediterranean to the rest of Europe.
Meloni on Friday chaired the 'Mattei' plan's initial steering committee meeting at Palazzo Chigi, in Rome, said the statement from her office.
The steering committee's main tasks are coordinating the government's activities with African nations, putting the finishing touches to the plan and regularly updating it, as well as monitoring its implementation and approving an annual report to Parliament, the statement said.
Friday's meeting was attended by representatives from the various ministries with responsibility for the areas covered by the plan, by the Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces, state agencies and public companies, universities, research institutions and overseas aid and development organisations, according to the statement.
