Giorgia Melonithe new Prime Minister of Italy, will travel to Algeria tomorrow, January 22for a two day visit (Sunday and Monday). This was reported by several Italian and international media such as Nova Agency and Bloomberg. Diplomatic circles confirmed the information this morning. it’s about the Meloni’s first official visit in a foreign country ; the third of an Italian Prime Minister in Algeria in the space of a year.
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Even if the detailed program of the visit is not yet known, it is not excluded that Meloni meets, in addition to his counterpart Benabderrahmanealso the President of the Republic, Abdelmajid Tebboune. On this occasion, the two parties intend to sign bilateral agreements, especially as Italy seeks to obtain more Algerian gas to replace Russian gas.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will travel to Algeria this weekend, as Italy seeks more natural gas from the African country https://t.co/uyYi5AXPlx
—Bloomberg (@business) January 20, 2023
Algerian gas main issue of Meloni’s visit
Following the repercussions of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Italy is trying to strengthen its energy security and wean itself off Russian gas supplies. It is in this context that it found the ideal alternative in Algerian gas. Moreover, in 2022, Algeria has supplanted Russia as Italy’s leading natural gas supplier.
Claudio Descalzi, the CEO of Eni SpA, said last week that if Italy arrives increase its imports from Algeria, it will have enough gas to pass the winter of 2023-24 without disturbances. He also indicated that in 2022, Algeria supplied 38% of Italy’s gas needswhich is as much as Russia before it cut off its flows to Europe in retaliation for the sanctions.
The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni.
Algeria, which is one of Europe’s largest suppliers, exports its gas both in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and by pipeline, notably the Transmed (alias Enrico Mattei). Mario Draghi, Meloni’s predecessor, visited Algiers twice last year and signed an agreement under which the Algerian government pledged to increase gas exports to Italy by 50%.
Thus, Algeria could constitute the hub of the “Mattei plan” for Africa that Meloni announced during her installation speech at the end of October 2022. A project that she reaffirmed on December 3 by declaring: “We we need a Mattei plan for Africa with a posture that is not predatory, but collaborative”.
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Moreover, according to data from the Italian MAE, trade between Algeria and Italy exceeded, in 2022, the 10 billion euro mark. 8 of these 10 billion consist of Italian imports of natural gas.
The shipbuilding industry, automotive, agriculture, tourism and startups will also be part of the program
The energy issue is obviously a priority, but Algeria is not just about gas. Italian know-how in shipbuilding, civil and especially military, its expertise in the automobile industry, agri-food, tourism, heritage enhancement – are all areas that interest our country.
Without forgetting startups, microenterprises and innovation as a means of preventing the drain of talent, accelerating economic development and tackling the roots of illegal emigration from Africa to Europe.
Thursday, October 13, 2022 – The Prime Minister, Benabderrahmane receives Carlos Tavares, CEO of the automotive group Stellantis.
In this regard, Yacine El Mahdi Oualid, the Algerian Minister of Knowledge Economy told Nova Agency: “Algeria, like other developing countries, suffers from brain drain… What we do every day , is to help our talents to succeed in Algeria… There is no development without talents. We hope that with Italy’s help we can speed up development and have a positive impact on emigration. »
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For his part, Algeria’s ambassador to Italy, Abdelkrim Touahria, said that in addition to the energy issue, automotive, agriculture, shipbuilding industries, startups and tourism will be among the files put on the table during Giorgia Meloni’s visit to Algeria. In addition to heavy industries which will be discussed during the Algerian-Italian Business Forum which will take place on Wednesday, January 25, in Naples.
Finally, Ambassador Taouharia revealed that the Fiat car models manufactured at the Oran plant will be unveiled on March 19 to be marketed before the end of 2023. The diplomat also mentioned the investment of the Adler group in the automotive spare parts sector.
