Italy has rolled out a new plan for Africa aimed at increasing energy efficiency and curbing migration. The "Mattei Plan," called ‘a partnership between equals,’ is already ruffling feathers in Africa. The Flipside looks at the feasibility of Italy’s plan and if it is what Africa really needs.
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00:00 A corporation of equals. That is how Italy's new president, Giorgia Meloni,
00:07 describes her shiny new deal with Africa. But this partnership is already off to a
00:13 rocky start. The African Union says they know nothing about the deal and its
00:19 focus areas. But more crucially, does Italy's plan align with Africa's needs?
00:25 Welcome to the Flipside. The Matai plan is Italy's ambitious program to help
00:32 Africa grow and prosper. It focuses on energy, agriculture, water, health and
00:38 education. To achieve all of this, Rome is committing an initial 5.5 billion
00:45 euros. Italy wants to make Africa a net exporter of energy so that Europe can
00:51 reduce its reliance on Russian power. Secondly, by investing in these sectors,
00:57 Italy hopes to create jobs for the youth so that irregular migration would reduce.
01:03 So, I want us to focus on these two areas, energy and migration. In terms of the
01:10 size of the deal, in terms of its focus on energy, it may not be sufficient
01:18 to match a significant amount of the needs on the continent, especially since
01:23 they're looking at an Africa-wide approach rather than looking at specific
01:27 countries. At this stage, it is not clear how much of the 5.5 billion euros would
01:33 go into specific energy projects. But last year, during the energy transition
01:38 dialogue here in Berlin, the African Development Bank revealed that the
01:42 continent needs far more. This is a continent that needs something in excess
01:49 of 100 billion dollars annually, just for core infrastructure, just for economic
01:54 infrastructure. And you have Italy saying it's going to give us, it's going to give
01:59 the whole of Africa, 54 countries, just a pottery 6 billion. 6 billion for energy,
02:06 for education, for health and all those things. The first phase of projects is
02:10 planned for Morocco, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Egypt and the Republic of Congo. But data
02:17 shows that these are not the top countries where young people embarking
02:22 on dangerous journeys come from. According to the Institute for European
02:27 Studies, most irregular migrants come from Eritrea, Nigeria, Somalia, Gambia,
02:34 Senegal and Mali. So this MATER program is a way of trying to kill two birds
02:41 with one stone. First of all, to try and appease her constituents, that I promise
02:49 that I'm going to go against immigrants. Now this is an amount of money, 6 billion
02:54 I'm giving to Africans to fight immigrants. It's a symbolic amount.
02:58 Giorgia Meloni won Italy's presidency on anti-immigration rhetoric and it has not
03:04 helped that the African Union says its views were not considered for this plan.
03:10 But a plan in its current form throws up more questions, none of which appears to
03:16 be what Africa truly needs. Africa needs trade. We are not interested in any form
03:24 of handouts again. And that is the flip side.
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