Africa will determine the future of the European Union, Italy's prime minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Monday during a visit to Angola.
"That Europe's future will play out in Africa is especially clear to Italians," Gentiloni said at a joint press conference in Luanda with Angola's president Joao Lourenco.
Historically, the Mediterranean has been a crossroads for different cultures, he noted.
Quoting Angola's founder Agostino Neto, who decribed Angola as a crossroads of civilisations, Gentiloni said: Italy understands this message very well."
"In practical terms it means combining our historic cooperation programmes with economic inputs, public and private investment," Gentiloni stated.
Italy's trade with Africa is worth 34 billion euros, a figure that is set to climb, he said.
"Last year, with 12 billion euros of investments, Italy was the third largest investor in Africa and the foremost in Europe."
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