AMN Plus-February 14/2026
Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni has thanked Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and the leaders of the African Union for their hospitality and cooperation in organizing the second Italy-Africa Summit, the first ever held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in the continent Africa.
Meloni underscored that the Italy-African Summit is an excellent platform to further strengthen one of the most concrete outcomes of cooperation: the Mattei Plan for Africa, Italy’s investment initiative implemented across the continent in areas from infrastructure to agriculture, health, and education.
“This is not an “Italian plan for Africa,” but Italy’s contribution to Africa’s agenda, with this year’s focus on water-related projects, “Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni stated
The Mattei Plan is an open platform to deploy our know-how, technologies, and investments in service of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, starting with the creation of an integrated and prosperous continental free trade area.
Prime Minister Meloni said Achieving this ambitious goal requires efficient, secure, and fast economic interconnections, such as the Nobito Corridor, the railway and infrastructure backbone connecting African markets to global ones, fostering the flow of people, ideas, and economies.
Addressing the 39th Ordinary session of the African Union, Meloni reaffirmed that Italy stands at the forefront of this strategic project, alongside the United States and the European Union.
In short, the Mattei Plan is a comprehensive strategy generating concrete benefits for our peoples and continually expanding its scope, relying on the irreplaceable contributions of key partners: major United Nations agencies, the Secretary-General António Guterres, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and many others who share our vision.
By Birhanu Workneh
