Dear Editor, It’s true: Africa deserves more attention from us. Over recent years, many Africa countries – I am referring especially to an oft-forgotten Sub-Saharan Africa – have undergone radical political, social and economic transformations, and made remarkable progress in strengthening institutions and the rule of law. Transformation that offer extraordinary opportunities for boosting our relations with that region in all political, economic and cultural spheres. For that reason, I will be presenting the “Italy-Africa Initiative” tomorrow, through which the Italian foreign ministry intends to turn the spotlight back on the African continent, and trigger a dynamic involving all areas of collaboration, from policy to human rights to sustainable development, within a framework that unites all actors, public and otherwise. Some concrete initiatives are ready, and I will be there to launch them in Ghana and Senegal from 5 to 7 January, and on 13 January in Sierra Leone. Deputy Minister Pistelli will be in Addis Ababa in late January to attend the African Union Summit.
How can we strengthen our African policies? I believe strongly that human rights and fundamental freedoms – the defence of which remains the guiding star of Italian foreign policy – remain the foundation for the security of populations and economic development, and consequently the security of entire regions. Development in social relations is also linked with growth in the role of African women. In this regard I would point out that, thanks to Italy’s contribution, the struggle to end inhuman and obsolete practices, such as female genital mutilation and forced marriages, is today at the centre of an energetic movement within the United Nations and the African countries themselves.
Moreover, the scenario is showing promising signs also in terms of stability and security. I am referring, in particular, to renewed hopes for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo and to developments in the stabilisation of the new federal Somalia, where Italy made a major contribution in September by promoting a multilateral encounter in New York in the margins of the UN General Assembly, where Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was also present.
Africa’s economic prospects are also promising and we must not make the mistake of underestimating the opportunities for trade there. A good 7 out of 10 of the world economies most likely to grow over the coming 15 years are located in Sub-Saharan Africa. Various of the African States are among the world’s largest producers of fossil fuels and natural resources. But it would be short-sighted to think that Africa is merely a vast pool of raw materials; its lasting and sustainable prosperity can and must also, and above all, be founded on the courage – of African governments and our own – to trust the capacity for innovation of its young and dynamic populations.
These positive developments are, unfortunately, in contrast with persistent situations of tragic decline in some economic, social and security frameworks. Tragedies like that of Lampedusa are a call to Italy, and the rest of Europe, to strengthen the commitment to Africa, and remind us that events in places so apparently distant in reality touch us quite directly. That is why Italy is on the front lines in reinforcing stability and security in the Sahel and supporting the African Union and other regional African organisations. The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has added 10 Sub-Saharan African countries to the 24 top priority concerns for our development cooperation activities.
For the same reason the recent tragic crises in South Sudan and the Central African Republic are at the centre of our attention.
The foreign ministry is following developments on the ground in those two countries and we certainly do not intend to deny our support to those populations in their moment of need. The Italian Cooperation has been working in South Sudan for years now, and we promptly earmarked emergency funds for the CAR through the UNFAO to ensure the food security of the displaced persons there.
Italy is among the international actors most engaged in the fight against piracy which, in addition to being a threat to free navigation, seriously destabilises the economies and security of coastal nations. Within this framework, we are supplying qualified personnel and ships to the NATO Ocean Shield and the EU’s Atalanta and ERCAP-NESTOR counter-piracy operations in the waters off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean.
These efforts demand that Italy quickly adapt to the massive changes that I have just summarised and adjust its foreign policy approach to Africa, through continuous monitoring and presence and not through “hit and run” interventions; through close coordination between government bodies and synergies with private ones; and through strategies that consider issues in their overall aspects and no longer piecemeal. Only in this way will be able to make a contribution to finally eradicating the problems that have for far too long afflicted Africa and its peoples, helping them to become part, not of the problem, but of the solution.
