The Africa-Italy conference started today at the Farnesina in the presence of the highest offices of the State and representatives of all African countries. The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella has opened the works that will be closed by the Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte.
Emanuela Del Re on the Messenger draws a summary of the black continent where she highlights the record demographic growth that will see Africans make up 20% of the world population in 2050. In sub-Saharan Africa, GDP increased by 2,8% in 2017 with an acceleration estimated at 3,4% in 2018. Another fact that is of great interest to Italy is that the African continent increasingly looks to the Bel Paese as a cultural reference and as a system to be taken as a reference. It is no coincidence that Italian exports to the entire area increased by 5,5% in 2018.
The European External Investment Plan has a strong emphasis on the African continent and sees the activity of Italian cooperation at the forefront to facilitate the process, in harmony with the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development. 42% of the cooperation funds managed by the Farnesina and Aics are destined for interventions in Africa. Humanitarian aid, education, governance, food, infrastructure, these are the major areas of intervention.
A concrete example of the desire for Italianness is given by the fact that two of the largest Italian schools in the world are located in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Somalia, on the other hand, would like to expand the activities of the National University through an Italian project.
Good prospects for Italy to implement a concrete aid plan, on the EU plate, aimed at bringing the African continent closer to Europe. The Italian interest is to help African countries on their territory to ease the pressure on the countries of North Africa.