Piano Mattei, this is why there is so little talk about it in African newspapers
Reactions and silences on the initiative presented by the government of Rome with the promise of a new "equal and non-predatory" alliance
ROME – “There is little, very little, almost nothing about the Mattei Plan in the press of African countries”. Abdoulaye Diarra, former cultural mediator in Italy, now director of the Organisation pour le Bien Etre Solidaire (Obes) in Mali, speaks with the Dire agency after a little research. He is located in Bamako, in the heart of the Sahel, but he assures that he has broadened his gaze and searched here and there also on the web: at least from Senegal to the Ivory Coast, a former French “new entry” colony among Italian priorities south of the Sahara. “I will continue to monitor but for now there isn’t much, beyond statements from embassies or foreign ministries” underlines Diarra. “The few contributions concern the Italy-Africa summit organized by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome on 29 and 30 January”.
ON INTERNATIONAL NEWSPAPERS, NOT ON LOCAL ONES
The services of international rather than African newspapers are excluded from the account: be it the academic dissemination portal ‘The Conversation’, which for example gives space to the analysis of Jean Pierre Darnis, a professor with French origins and a life in Rome, or of Africanews, a sub-Saharan broadcaster born from Euronews project. Poor coverage does not, of course, mean a negative approach. And this despite criticism of the Italian project, or rather of some of its modalities, having already been expressed at the Rome summit. “I think of the president of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat” recalls Diarra: “He denounced unilateral preparation, without real involvement of the partner countries”.
HOW MUCH DOES THE COMPARISON WITH CHINA, RUSSIA OR TURKEY WEIGH
Obviously there are also those who criticize the merits. This is the case of Dean Bhekumuzi Bhebhe, exponent of Don’t gas Africa, a campaign that brings together organizations from society civilians of several countries on the continent. According to the activist, who is based in Johannesburg, the Mattei Plan is “a symbol of Italy’s ambitions on fossil fuels”. And it’s not just the name of the project, a tribute to Enrico Mattei, founder of the National Hydrocarbons Agency (Eni). The risk, according to Bhebhe, would be “transforming Africa into an energy corridor for Europe” compromising the transition towards renewable sources. What weighs heavily, and here we return to the media, is the comparison. According to Diarra, formats such as China-Africa, Russia-Africa or even Turkey-Africa have captured more attention. “In all these cases, summits, proposals and investments were followed with care and consistency” notes the director of Obes: “It hasn’t gone like this with Italy, at least for now”.