Saturday April 15, 2023
(ANSA) - ROME, APR 15 - 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. (ANSA).