Italy’s quiet push towards the Maghreb

While most of Giorgio Meloni’s foreign policy has been defined by an unwavering support for Ukraine and her obvious links to Italy’s Atlantic and European partners as well as Brussels, she has also made Africa a priority and perhaps more quietly – the Maghreb. Meloni has made ten visits to Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, and Mauritania, probably the most of any European leader in recent years.  

This week Meloni was in Tunisa meeting with President Saied where she reaffirmed Italy’s commitment to implementing the ELMED power line, a strategic piece of infrastructure for Italy and Tunisia, and for the European continent.

Also, recently she hosted Algerian President Tebboune for a bilateral economic summit, held at Rome’s Villa Doria Pamphili, with Italian guards playing the Italian and Algerian national anthems. So, behind all the pomp – is it all just pipeline politics or is Italy serious about the Maghreb and Africa in general?

Bilateral ties between Algiers, Tunis and Rome are certainly motivated by pipeline politics, which, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have pushed recent Italian governments to diversify energy supplies away from Russia.

Given its geographical location, Italy has carefully recalibrated its policy with a renewed attention to the continent in general, through its Mattei Plan for Africa. Named after Italian energy pioneer Enrico Mattei, the initiative looks to revitalize and expand energy partnerships and economic development with African nations, as well as tackling issues such as migration.

The plan has five “pillars”: to address education and training, health, agriculture, water, and energy. Initially launched with nine African nations, including Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt and Libya the initiative has been extended to include Angola, Ghana, Mauritania, Tanzania, and Senegal.

Rome hopes to define itself as a more politically neutral player compared to other powers, with little ambition for internal interference and greater respect for local communities. The Plan had initial funding of €5.5 billion in the form of grants, loans and guarantees, from Italy but at ‘The Mattei Plan for Africa and the Global Gateway: A common effort with the African Continent’ Summit in June this year, Meloni said the European Union, has allocated €150 billion to Africa with the Global Gateway.

At that same June summit Meloni emphasized the support for strategic infrastructure, such as the Lobito Corridor, which will connect the East and West of Africa. She also pointed to “secure and modern digital connections, with Sparkle’s Blue Raman cable which will be projected towards Africa, as well as the relaunch of local agricultural supply chains, with investments in coffee processing and sustainable agriculture.”

So perhaps Meloni is trying to act as a bridge between Europe and Africa, and at their recent meeting in Rome with President Tebboune, she described relations between the two countries as having "never been so special.” The Italian and Algerian leaders reportedly signed around 40 deals, just as Algeria’s relationship with France looks to have hit rock bottom. But let’s not forget – the Mattei Plan – is primarily about energy, and it’s no coincidence that Algeria is now Italy’s largest supplier of gas! To Meloni’s credit though she is approaching this not from a top-down ideology, but rather concrete projects. She concluded her opening remarks at that Africa Summit by saying: “the approach Italy has implemented is clear: respect, responsibility, vision. It is a change of method in relations between Europe and Africa, and I am proud that Italy has contributed to shaping this vision. “

*Kieran Baker is an Emmy award winning journalist who has started up various networks including Al Jazeera English, Bloomberg TV Africa and TRT World.