Enrico Giovannini: “What an opportunity Africa is, it’s worth getting into debt”

The scientific director of ASviS in conversation with the Dire agency. With a proposal for the new EU legislature. "Provocative", but only a little

ROME – More Europe in the world. Provided, of course, that with the legislature starting after the next elections there is a more supportive, integrated and sustainable Europe, just like the 17 “development objectives” of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. It is the horizon imagined by Enrico Giovannini, professor of Economic Statistics at Tor Vergata University, several times Minister of the Republic, now scientific director of the Italian Alliance for Development sustainable (ASviS).

1,200 MEETINGS IN 17 DAYS

In the editorial office of the Dire agency, we take stock after the sustainable development festival organized in May by ASviS, over 1,200 meetings in 17 days, throughout Italy and also abroad. The opportunity to listen to the ideas of thousands of citizens and hundreds of civil society organizations. And also in the interview, a few days before the vote for the EU Parliament, we look at Europe and beyond. “Adding a somewhat provocative but in our opinion very relevant proposal” Giovannini anticipates: “Creating common European debt, as happened with the NextGenerationEu, to finance an extraordinary plan for Africa, whose development in the direction of sustainability is vital for Europe”.

The director continues: “In this way we could also compete with China and Russia, which have flooded some African countries with funds, thus also expanding their political influence.” The objective, however, is not to oppose but to seize opportunities. “The development of Africa is absolutely in our interest and in the interest of the whole world, also in terms of fighting the climate crisis” highlights Giovannini. The premise is that, even with respect to this continent, not everything has worked well in EU policies. “European countries arewell below the 0.7 percent of gross national incomedestined for development cooperation” calculates the director, citing an obligation undertaken by the UN in 1970 to be achieved by 2030 “Like Italy, we are below 0.3 percent, but what is missing above all is an overall strategy: we must maintain the commitment to public development assistance and create synergy with the private sector”.

We talk, at the same time, about international cooperation and “political unity”. Giovannini underlines: “In particular, some countries, think for example of France, are concentrated much more on bilateral policies than on European ones; even recently it happened that the president of the EU Commission went to a non-European country and then the head of this or that Member State would return to us immediately afterwards for their own national agenda”. According to Giovannini, approaches like these benefit “competitors”. “Let’s think of the United States, which however disengaged from Africa and perhaps never entered the game, of China, of Russia or to other emerging actors such as Turkey” lists the director: “There is political unity there even in cooperative relations”.

THE GLOBAL GATEWAY IS NOT ENOUGH

There would then be a “leap to the European level” to be made. With an element to take into account, even when talking about “Global Gateway”, an initiative aimed at Africa which according to the EU Commission could mobilize up to 300 billion euros: “The funds are insufficient” warns Giovannini; “They are peanuts, as they say in jargon, compared to what Africa needs and what other powers are putting in place.” Then there is a larger space. “What is called the ‘Global South’, an important piece of the world, is angry with Europe for how we behaved during the Covid-19 pandemic”, underlines Giovannini, “when we somehow rounded up the vaccines for us and left only the crumbs for developing countries.” The new EU legislature, with a mandate until 2029, in a crucial phase for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, would have the task of making a turning point. “We must overturn the somewhat selfish image we have given” Giovannini’s appeal. “We have the absolute need to define a European strategy that allows us to address developing countries and Africa in particular, in a united way”. In addition to the how much there is the how. And then the management: “It is essential to increase funds but also direct them towards the ecological and digital transition, the perspective, consistent with the 2030 Agenda, towards which we all must go”.