In a nod to the visionary founding father of Italian oil main Eni, prime minister Giorgia Meloni spoke of a contemporary “Mattei plan” for Africa in her inauguration speech three months in the past.
Throughout the Nineteen Fifties, the late Enrico Mattei sought to assist African international locations’ improvement of their pure sources to assist the continent maximise its financial development potential and facilitate Italy’s power independence.
As Europe rethinks its power coverage and seeks to wean itself off Russian fuel, Italy is as soon as extra eyeing the same technique by means of its sector firms. Meloni, the chief of Italy’s nationalist rightwing authorities, stated: “After years of backtracking we’d wish to regain our strategic function within the Mediterranean.”
The imaginative and prescient of Mattei, who was mysteriously killed in a airplane crash in 1962, continues to be a piece in progress however, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine final yr, the query of power independence has gained new urgency. And Italy senses there are alternatives for its firms in coping with the area’s power disaster.
Particularly, Italian trade specialists imagine that the deep data of state-controlled Eni of the African continent and its longstanding business ties to Center Japanese international locations may flip right into a nationwide asset as Europe works to safe new power sources. Eni has operated in Africa since 1954, with operations in 14 international locations.
Claudio Descalzi, chief government of Eni, has instructed the Monetary Instances nearer collaboration with international locations in Africa on power issues provided the potential for a brand new “south-north axis” connecting the continent’s ample renewable and fossil gas sources with the energy-hungry markets of Europe.
Final yr the group entered a three way partnership with Doha’s QatarEnergy, the world’s largest liquefied pure fuel exporter, to broaden the North Discipline East challenge.
Beneath Mario Draghi’s former authorities final yr, Eni negotiated new provide agreements with Algeria, which has overtaken Russia as Italy’s major fuel provider. Eni stated it additionally deliberate to extend investments in international locations together with the Republic of the Congo, Angola, Nigeria and Mozambique.
Africa has ample power sources however their improvement has suffered from under-investment. A sub-Saharan pipeline challenge from Nigeria to Algeria, for instance, has been within the works for many years.
Now, European governments have indicated they need to put money into the prevailing infrastructure to spice up flows from the area. Eni and Snam, which already function components of the Trans Mediterranean Pipeline from Algeria to northern Italy, have an essential function to play, in response to trade specialists in Italy.
One other area during which Italy may reap alternatives is power transition. North African international locations have monumental renewable power potential and sooner or later the area might be a inexperienced hydrogen manufacturing hub, a challenge Snam has been discussing for years.
Former Snam chief Marco Alverà believes Italy has a number of benefits for renewable power in its geographical place, present infrastructure like storage capability and world-class engineering firms akin to Saipem and Maire Technimont.
“We now have to place the photo voltaic panels the place it’s sunny and the place there’s area, Europe doesn’t have sufficient area even the place it’s sunny, so we’ll must import renewable power,” says Alverà, who now heads Brussels-based inexperienced hydrogen firm TES and is the co-founder of renewable power firm Zhero.
Italy must also take inventory of its utility firm’s Enel’s experience, trade specialists say. The €57bn power group can also be a number one renewables producer in Europe and it already owns a big Sicily-based photo voltaic panel producer. The group may assist Italy turn into a number one participant in north Africa’s power trade’s enlargement, the specialists say.
If the EU and Italy don’t step up their involvement in Africa, rivals are poised. Russia’s Gazprom has already manifested an curiosity within the sub-Saharan pipeline challenge and held negotiations with Nigerian counterparties.
And Laura El-Katiri, a visiting fellow on the European Council for Overseas Relations, factors out: “With out robust European engagement, north African international locations are more likely to depend on different, dominant suppliers in clear power worth chains, significantly China.”
Such a state of affairs that might deal a major blow to the EU and to the Italian nationalist authorities’s quest to regain a number one function within the Mediterranean.
silvia.borrelli@ft.com
