Meloni's “Africa Plan” could increase migration – Italy's ally comes under pressure

Melonis Italy presents an “Africa plan”. This will cause trouble, cause problems for allies – and could have a counterproductive effect.

• Italy held an Africa summit, including on energy and migration policy.
• Critics counter that Giorgia Meloni's government is not addressing Africa's structural needs and is neglecting climate protection.
• Kenyan President Ruto plays a key role in this – but he is increasingly controversial in his country.
• This article is available for the first time in German – the magazine first published it on February 7, 2024 Foreign policy.

Rome – Kenyan President William Ruto is backing a nearly $6 billion Italian plan to share energy resources in exchange for migration restrictions. But other regional leaders criticize the proposed measures. The disagreements not only highlight the growing gap between Ruto's international profile and the opposition at home.

Italy had his first last week Africasummit held. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni presented the plan to finance energy, education and health projects in North African countries as well as in Mozambique, Ethiopia, the Republic of Congo and Kenya – in return for Italian access to energy sources and the cooperation of African governments in curbing migration .

Italy's “Mattei Plan” for Africa – hydrogen and biofuels, but also oil and gas

Meloni's project is called the “Mattei Plan for Africa”, named after the founder of the Italian state oil company Eni, Enrico Mattei. Italy has signed several gas contracts with African countries in recent years to replace Russian supplies. The plan aims to promote infrastructure and pipelines that will facilitate energy trade between Italy and North Africa and is expected to be spearheaded by Eni. He highlights hydrogen and biofuelsbut does not rule out oil and gas projects.

We are not beggars. Our ambitions are much higher.

More than 50 African groups wrote a letter to the Italian government lamenting Rome's failure to consult Africans and arguing that the plan undermines Africa's climate agenda “by encouraging more investment and financial flows into new fossil fuel oil and gas projects.” “. Ruto quickly faced backlash for supporting a plan that so blatantly placed Italy's fossil fuel needs above African interests.

Meloni's plan “does not address Africa's structural needs” – warning of migration surge

“A plan that fails to address Africa’s structural needs and instead encourages carbon-emitting fossil fuel projects, further burdening the continent with debt and keeping countries rooted at the bottom of the global value chain” is likely to increase African migration, wrote Fadhel Kaboub , a senior advisor to Power Shift Africa.

Critics pointed out that the initiative was described as a “Plan for Africa” rather than an African partnership. “African countries would have liked to have been consulted before Italy presented its plan,” African Union Commission chief Moussa Faki said at the summit in Rome.

“We are not beggars. Our ambitions are much higher. We want a paradigm shift for a new model of partnership that can pave the way to a fairer and more coherent world,” he said.

Heads of Africa's largest economies not at Melonis summit – US interference?

Much of the funding promised by Rome is not a new commitment but comes from loans and grants already under the climate– and development cooperation were awarded. Nevertheless, Ruto welcomed the agreement as a positive step. “Every journey begins with a simple step. And I think that the most important step has been taken is that we recalibrate our relations with Italy as a continent,” he said. The leaders of Africa's three largest economies – Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa – were not present. Egypt sent its international cooperation minister instead, while South Africa and Nigeria, which do not appear to benefit from the plan, did not send representatives.

It is the latest example of Ruto publicly supporting Western policies, much to the chagrin of Kenyans. His plan to send Kenyan police officers to combat gang violence in Haiti was thrown out by Kenya's Supreme Court as unconstitutional. The US and Ruto have indicated that they still want to continue the mission by establishing a bilateral agreement with Haiti.

However, Kenyan opposition members argue that the court ruling clearly states that only Kenyan military and not the police can be deployed abroad. They have warned the US government against interfering in Kenyan affairs.

Kenya's constitutional state in danger?

Ruto also lost his appeal against a ruling that halted his plans to charge all Kenyans 1.5 percent of their monthly income to build affordable housing. According to the judges, the plan was discriminatory. Ruto's government said the program created 120,000 jobs.

The two separate court rulings against Ruto have led to a bitter feud between him and Kenyan judges, sparking a protest in Nairobi last month. “A few people who benefit from corruption are using corrupt judicial officials to block our development projects,” Ruto said in a public address in January.

Chief Justice Martha Koome hit back. “When state or public officials threaten to defy court orders, the rule of law is compromised and the conditions are created for anarchy to reign in a nation,” she said in an internal memo.

Ruto wanted to ease the suffering of Kenyans – but appears to be losing the trust of his voters

During the election campaign, Ruto presented himself as a “mastermind” who would alleviate the suffering of Kenyans. He has recently come under fire for his high tax policy. Far-reaching economic reforms eliminated existing subsidies for food and fuel, increased payroll taxes, and introduced a 2.75 percent tax for social health insurance and a 3 percent sales tax (gross sales tax) for small businesses. Kenyan economists say high taxes have increased operating costs and forced some businesses to close.

Kenyans have nicknamed him “Zakayo,” after the biblical tax collector Zacchaeus. With the loss of at least 70,000 jobs in the private sector, according to the Kenya Employers' Association, Ruto appears to be increasingly losing the trust of his voters.

We are currently testing machine translations. This article was automatically translated from English into German.

This article was first published in English on February 7, 2024 in the magazine “ForeignPolicy.com“ was published – as part of a cooperation, it is now also available in translation and an abridged version to readers of the IPPEN.MEDIA portals.