Brussels supports Italy’s influence in Africa to fill the void left by France

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has succeeded in pushing the European Union to support Rome’s efforts to enter Africa through the “Mattei Plan”, which began in Algeria and included many sensitive sectors, such as energy, infrastructure, transport, defense, and space. This plan coincided with the decline of French influence in its former stronghold on the African continent.

The Italian Prime Minister chaired a summit attended by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, which focused on the “Mattei Plan”. This project has economic dimensions but also branches out to include other dimensions, including combating migration. Rome believes that the solution to this problem lies in establishing wealth-generating economic projects and job opportunities in Southern Mediterranean countries to reduce migration.
This approach is completely contrary to the French approach, which is based on perpetuating the dependence of Southern countries and stealing their wealth under justifications and considerations inherited from the defunct colonial era.

In the view of Europeans, the French approach to dealing with Southern countries, based on guardianship and control, has brought many problems to the old continent, including the problem of migration. This policy has led to Paris losing its strongholds in the African continent, in Algeria, the Sahel region, and sub-Saharan countries. This has caused the European Union to lose an old influence, which Brussels is now trying to regain through the Italian “Mattei Plan”, which has been welcomed in many African countries, including Algeria.

The “Mattei Plan” is based on mobilizing 5.5 billion euros for initiatives distributed across 14 countries, in the form of grants, loans, or guarantees over several years, as well as strong partnership projects in the energy sector, as is the case between Algeria’s Sonatrach and Italy’s Eni, in addition to other projects in the agricultural sector in southern Algeria, as is known.

In this regard, Giovanni Carbone, a professor at the University of Milan and head of the Africa program at the Institute for International Political Studies, believes that Italy can diplomatically present itself as a more “acceptable” entity compared to France to represent European interests, especially in the Sahel countries that have “closed their doors” to the former colonial power. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the European Commission told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that “the Mattei Plan constitutes an important contribution to this European project, which includes funding worth up to 150 billion euros.”

For his part, former diplomat and expert in African affairs, Mr. Noureddine Djoudi, said in statements to “Echorouk” that the historical relations between Algeria and Italy, based on trust, which were established by the late Tayeb Boulahrouf, will help make the “Mattei Plan” a success. He added that the Algiers-Rome axis, which has been strengthened by the keenness of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, will make Algeria Italy’s gateway to the heart of the African continent, as Paris loses more of its eroding influence.

Among the points that will also help advance this plan, says Noureddine Djoudi, are the principles on which Italy’s foreign policy is based, which exclude considerations of guardianship and influence from its lexicon, as is the case with France’s foreign policy, which has become more exposed than ever before in the African continent.

In this context, he referred to the role played by Enrico Mattei, the architect of Italy’s relationship with third-world countries, including Algeria, who handed over highly important files to the Provisional Government of Algeria when it was in difficult negotiations with the French authorities for independence. Paris wanted to separate northern Algeria from its oil-rich south, and then keep it as a French province. However, the documents handed over by Mattei to the Provisional Government were sufficient to end the French conspiracy.

According to the retired diplomat, the energy cooperation between Algeria and Rome is a fruit of Mattei’s historical efforts and the plan of the current Italian government headed by Giorgia Meloni, which is keen to preserve that heavy legacy, from which it reaps much benefit today, and has become an exclusive distributor of Algerian gas to the heart of Europe.