Luanda - The Minister of State and Economic Coordination, José de Lima Massano, shared in Rome, Italy, Angola's experience in the field of agricultural mechanization, adding that the country intends to rely on Italian experience to improve this process for food security.
José de Lima Massano, who represented the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, at the Italy/Africa Summit, which took place from 28 to 29 January, said that Angola will make the best use of the opportunities offered by Italy's new form of cooperation with the African continent, particularly in the fields of agriculture and staff training.
A press release, received today by ANGOP, says that, on the sidelines of the summit, Minister José de Lima Massano held a courtesy meeting with the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, Ulisses Correia e Silva and an audience with the Italian Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida.
As part of the Italy/Africa summit, the Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, announced an initial allocation of 5.5 billion euros for the sectors of education, health, agriculture, water and energy on the African continent, within the framework of the Mattei Plan for Africa.
On the occasion, Giorgia Meloni said that the pilot projects range from university centers of excellence in Morocco to the production of biofuels in Kenya”.
Meloni explained that the 5.5 billion euros, from the first budget of the Mattei Plan, will be taken in part from the Italian Social Fund for the Climate (3 billion euros) and in part from the resources of Italian Cooperation (2.5 thousand million euros).
“It is not enough”, admitted Meloni, stressing that the Government will seek new resources among individual donor countries, the European Union and multilateral institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), represented in Rome by its president Kristalina Georgieva.
The Italian Prime Minister also announced the creation of a new “financial instrument” from Cassa Depositi e Prestiti to facilitate private sector financing, a piece that will have to be “crucial” as a lever in economic commitments on the continent.
According to the head of the Italian Government, the backbone of the Mattei Plan, the current Government's project on 'new relations' with the African continent, advocates a “programmatic platform”, in equal collaboration.
When speaking at the summit, the President of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, highlighted the “appreciation” of the continent's countries for the “paradigm change” in relations with Africa, driven by the European Union, but established some limits of approach and expectations in partnership with the continent.
Moussa Faki declared, for example, that he “would like to have been consulted” on the plan, which reveals a direct blow to the Meloni executive, before clarifying that African economies require “facts” about the economic commitments summarized in Rome.
Present at the conference were the President of the African Union, Azali Assoumani, the African Commission, Moussa Faki, and the leaders of the European Union, namely Roberta Metsola (European Parliament), Charles Michel (European Council) and Ursula von der Leyen (European Commission) and on the Italian side also the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani.
The Angolan delegation to the event, led by José de Lima Massano, was attended by Ambassador Fátima Jardim, Ambassador Cuandina de Carvalho, director of the Europe department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MIREX), the President of the Board of Directors (PCA) of National Oil and Gas Agency, Paulino Gerónimo, and the President of the Board of Directors of the Agrarian Development Support Fund (FADA), Felisbela Maria Francisco. AC/DOJ
