Premier Giorgia Meloni said Friday
that her government intends to present a plan for Africa named
after Eni founder Enrico Mattei in the autumn after arriving in
Addis Ababa for a two-day visit to Ethiopia.
"We are working on a series of initiatives regarding Africa,"
she said as she arrived at her hotel.
"The next Italy-Africa intergovernmental summit, which takes
place every two years, will be in the autumn and it could be the
occasion to present our Mattei plan.
"In the meantime we are working in cooperation with the African
countries because you cannot think you know the best solutions
without dialogue with those who are directly concerned".
Meloni has been calling on Europe to boost aid and develop
stronger cooperation with Africa as part of a strategy to reduce
the number of migrants seeking to cross the Mediterranean.
The agenda in Addis Ababa includes meetings with Ethiopian
Premier Abiy Ahmed, who was in Rome in February, and African
Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat.
Italy considers the "stability and integrity" of Ethiopia to be
a priority for national interest due to its position on the
migratory route from the Horn of Africa to North Africa and
Europe.
The country hosts 823,000 refugees and 4.2 million internally
displaced people. The humanitarian crisis and conflict in
neighbouring Somalia are reportedly to be the subject of a
bilateral meeting with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud
and of a separate meeting with Ethiopian and Somali
representatives on Saturday.
Before leaving, Meloni will also visit the Galileo Galilei
comprehensive school in the Ethiopian capital, the largest
Italian school outside the country with approximately 900
pupils.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
