Policy Updates

On November 25, 2024, AOI, the network of the major NGOs working in international cooperation, published a report marking one year since the official launch of the Mattei Plan,.

The report highlighted the Mattei Plan's major issues:

• Resource constraints: The EUR5.5 billion (US$6 billion) allocated to the Mattei Plan are mainly derived from existing funds. AOI denounces the lack of additional investment and recalls the importance of allocating significant resources to address African challenges;
• Assistance reduction: In 2023, Italy cut bilateral funds for African countries by 32% and humanitarian assistance by 36%, starkly contrasting the continent's growing needs; and
• Migration: AOI  called the idea that more development leads to less migration into question, pointing out that migration does not necessarily decrease correlated to economic growth. Instead, the organization recommended promoting regular and well-managed migration pathways and highlighted diasporas and remittances as tools for development.

AOI outlined recommendations to improve the implementation of the Mattei Plan, including:

• Place local communities at the center of development policy;
• Implement a transformative approach to addressing gender inequality, including promoting the rights of women and girls, with a focus on SRHR and countering GBV and harmful practices such as child marriage and forced genital cutting;
• Invest in renewable energy, reducing dependence on fossil fuels;
• Improve access to clean water and sanitation, as they are crucial for health and sustainable development;
• Invest in youth training and employment;
• Ensure transparency in managing financial resources and avoid actions perceived as neocolonialist or predatory; and
• Reinforce the pivotal role of the Italian CSOs representing a strategic bridge between Italy and Africa.

On November 13, 2024, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni emphasized Italy's commitment to advancing nuclear fusion at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

In her speech, Meloni highlighted the need for a balanced energy mix to support the transition process, stating that all available technologies should be utilized. She emphasized the importance of renewable energy sources and the role of gas, biofuels, hydrogen, CO2 capture, and nuclear fusion.

Meloni underscored the importance of intermediate steps, stating that fourth-generation fission reactors should be considered when pursuing fusion. Meloni said Italy has already allocated more than EUR4 billion (US$4.3 billion) to the Climate Fund in Africa and will continue to support initiatives such as the Green Climate Fund,the Loss and Damage Fund, and continue to promote the involvement of MDBs.

On June 20, 2024, the G7's Accountability Working Group released the G7 Apulia Progress Report 2024: Advancing Sustainable Development in Africa.

The annual Progress Report is an accountability tool that monitors the implementation of the development policies adopted by the richest countries in the G7 framework.

The report reviewed progress on G7 development commitments from 2015-2022, showing increased ODA flows to Africa despite regional and global crises. G7 cooperation supported key areas such as economic transformation, food security, climate resilience, and gender equality. Significant initiatives included the African Continental Free Trade Area, the Global Shield against Climate Risks, and the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa. The report emphasized the need for enhanced G7 cooperation with African partners, especially in addressing economic and climate challenges.

The Italian G7 Presidency selected Africa as the focus for the Report, recognizing the continent's significant potential for sustainable development and its crucial role as a partner in advancing progress towards achieving the SDGs, Agenda 2063, and the Paris Agreement.

On May 23-25, 2024, the G7 Ministers of Finance met at a summit in Stresa, Italy, where the ministers voiced support for contributions to the IDA, WHO, Gavi, and the Global Fund in the resulting communiqué.

The G7 ministers supported efforts towards a successful 21^st replenishment of the IDA by the end of 2024 through an ambitious policy and financing package. Notably, they did not give a concrete signal that the critical US$100 billion threshold requested by the World Bank will be crossed, nor any indication of the US$120 billion expected by African leaders.

The ministers reaffirmed their dedication to strengthening the governance and finance of the global health architecture and voiced support for refinancing processes of several GHIs, such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the WHO, and the Global Fund, and expressed support for the Pandemic Fund. The communiqué called on the donor community to coordinate efforts and increase investments in global health in line with their capacities to ensure sustainable funding and maximize the impact of available resources.

Following the summit, the C7 pointed out the G7's lack of ambition and financial commitment to international development, including climate adaptation. International civil society organizations criticized the lack of any reference to allocating SDRs to global solidarity.

On May 14-15, 2024, the C7 summit was held at the UN FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, organized by the Italian Civil Society Coalition that led, coordinated, and moderated the C7 2024 process.

Approximately 400 global representatives took part in the event, as well as international decision-makers, including FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu, Italian G7 sherpa Ambassador Elisabetta Belloni, Cardinal, President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Pope’s envoy for the Russian-Ukrainian conflict Matteo Maria Zuppi, and Director of the UN SDG Action Campaign Marina Ponti.

The official C7 communiqué that listed the international civil society recommendation to the G7’s Leaders around seven key issues was released at the event, which included:

• Economic justice and transformation;
• Climate, energy transformation, and environmental justice;
• Global health;
• Principled humanitarian assistance;
• Peace, common security, and nuclear disarmament;
• Human mobility and migration; and
• Food justice and food systems transformation.

On April 30, 2024, it was announced that, as a part of the G7 Finance Track, the Italian MEF and ISTAT will host the seventh edition of the OECD World Forum on Wellbeing, entitled Strengthening Wellbeing Approaches for a Changing World, in Rome from November 4-6, 2024.

The event is part of the G7 Finance Track promoted by the Italian government. The Forum will be structured into five round tables that will discuss topics, including:

• The development of policy frameworks oriented towards equitable and sustainable well-being;
• The measurement and statistical methodology, as well as the analysis of well-being indicators;
• Climate change;
• Technological innovation and the use of artificial intelligence; and
• The next steps in the well-being agenda.

Other topics to be addressed include gender inequalities, inequalities and poverty, physical and mental health, and the aging population.

On February 26, 2024, AICS and the Italian Ministry of Environment and Energy Security entered a Collaboration Agreement, totaling EUR982 million (US$1 billion), to finance pathways of transformative promotion and awareness-raising for sustainable development and global citizenship through 2027.

The funding is intended to support the experimentation of collaborative modalities among different institutional, research, and non-state actors.

The partnership was described as pivotal to fully implementing Italy's National Strategy for Sustainable Development and the Strategy for Education for Global Citizenship.

On January 28 and 29, 2024, Italy hosted the Africa-Italy Summit, chaired by the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, during which 25 African leaders and diplomats joined Italian and EU leaders to launch the pilot programs of Italy's flagship foreign policy initiative, also known as the Mattei Plan for Africa.

Meloni announced EUR5.5 billion (US$6 billion) in credits, grants, and guarantees under the plan. EUR3 billion (US$3.3 billion) will come from the Italian Climate Fund, as announced at COP28, and EUR2.5 billion (US$2.7 billion) will come from the newly created multilateral fund at the African Development Bank.

Rome identified a set of countries in the SSA and North African regions to begin implementing the plan, and noted aims to expand the list. Among the first projects announced were:

• A large vocational training center on renewable energy in Morocco;
• Education projects in Tunisia; and
• Health accessibility in the Ivory Coast.

Other projects are planned in Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, and the DRC.

Priority areas of intervention were announced as:

• Education and training: Interventions will be aimed to promote training teachers, adjusting curricula, launching new vocational and training courses in line with the needs of the labor market, and collaborating with enterprises, particularly involving Italian operators and the Italian SMEs model;
• Agriculture: Interventions will be aimed at decreasing malnutrition rates, fostering the development of agri-food supply chains, and supporting the development of non-fossil biofuels. The development of family farming, the preservation of forestry, and combating and adapting to climate change through integrated agriculture are considered fundamental;
• Health: Interventions will be aimed to promote strengthening health systems, improving accessibility and quality of primary MNCH services, strengthening local capacities for the management, training, and employment of health personnel, research, and digitalization, and developing strategies and systems to prevent and contain health threats, particularly pandemics and natural disasters; and
• Energy: Interventions will be aimed to make Italy an energy hub, acting as a bridge between Europe and Africa. Interventions will feature the climate-energy nexus to strengthen energy efficiency and the use of renewable energies, with initiatives to accelerate energy transition.
• Water: interventions will involve drilling wells powered by photovoltaic systems, maintenance of pre-existing water points, investments in distribution networks, and awareness-raising activities about using clean, potable water.

On December 2, 2023, at COP28, Italy signed a Memorandum of Understanding underlining future climate cooperation between Italy and Ethiopia, which committed approximately EUR7 million (US$8 million) from Italy's Ministry of Environment and Energy Security to projects for CO₂ reduction and climate adaptation.

The signing occurred during a meeting between Italian Minister of Environment and Energy Security Gilberto Pichetto-Fratin and Ethiopian Minister of Planning and Development Fitsum Assefa.

On December 2, 2023, the EU institutions, the EIB, the EBRD, and the Member States that comprise Team Europe pledged EUR20 billion (US$21.8 billion) for clean energy partnerships with African partners.

The funding announcement listeed EUR3.4 billion (US$3.7 billion) in grants and covered the period from 2021-2027. The project, AEGEI, aims to produce over 50 Gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030.

12 EU Member States contributed to the funding. No language regarding specific partner countries was included in the announcement.