On Tuesday, the Ministries of Finance of Ethiopia and Foreign Affairs of Italy agreed to strengthen channels of communication to work closely for the mutual benefit of both nations and peoples.
The announcement followed the visit of an Italian delegation led by the Director General for Development Cooperation Stefano Gatti to the Ethiopian State portfolio facilities. The visitors met with State Finance Ministers Eyob Tekalign and Semereta Sewasew.
Local officials expressed their gratitude to the government of Rome for the support aligned with the African country's government priorities, emphasizing the urgent need for accelerated financial assistance.
The Italian delegates, for their part, welcomed Ethiopia's progress and expressed their willingness to collaborate closely to accelerate ongoing projects in the areas of agro-processing, energy, job creation, improving coffee productivity and enhancing their value chains. Similarly, in urban development and scaling up development.
As chair of the G7, Italy pledged support for Addis Ababa's development aspirations by urging the local team to take advantage of climate funds and the "Mattei Plan" for African development, announced by the Italian government earlier this year.
The plan will cost around three billion euros annually and will run for four years. It aims to improve energy cooperation with African countries and help them in different areas, including health, education and other sectors, but mainly to address the economic root causes of mass migration from Africa.
It is named after Enrico Mattei, an Italian public administrator who in the 1950s advocated that Italy support North African governments to grow their economies and develop their natural resources.
In addition to Gatti, the European delegation included representatives of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, businessmen, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and Rome's ambassador here, Agostino Palese.