Italy Advances Africa Partnerships with Libya Energy Deals and Upcoming Egypt Summit
ROME — Italy intensified its diplomatic and economic engagement with Africa this week through high-level talks with Libya and preparations for a long-awaited committee meeting with Egypt, all under the umbrella of Rome’s Mattei Plan for the continent.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah traveled to Rome for talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The two leaders oversaw the signing of multiple memoranda of understanding covering oil and natural gas cooperation, joint investments in offshore Mediterranean fields and the Ghadames basin, electrical interconnection, a submarine cable linking the two countries, water and sewage infrastructure, and migration and border management.
Officials also discussed lifting the long-standing airspace restrictions on Libyan civil aviation, with a deadline set for progress. Plans were outlined to establish a Libyan-Italian Higher Committee and to hold an economic forum alongside its first session. Dbeibah called for concrete steps to ease visa issuance for Libyan citizens, describing stronger bilateral ties as essential to shared interests.
A test flight operated by Italian Airways landed in Tripoli this week, signaling the planned resumption of regular commercial service in September after a decade-long interruption. Dbeibah separately met Italy’s external intelligence chief in Tripoli to review political and security developments and coordinate on regional stability.
On Thursday, Egypt and Italy will convene their joint higher committee in Cairo for the first time in ten years. The session, co-chaired by the two foreign ministers and involving additional cabinet members, will address economic, trade, and industrial cooperation. Officials plan to relaunch the Egypt-Italy Joint Business Forum to generate new investment and commercial opportunities. Egypt ranks as a priority partner under Italy’s Mattei Plan, which targets education, healthcare, energy, water, agriculture, and infrastructure.
The Mattei Plan, now in its third year, continues to expand. It currently involves 18 African partner countries and dozens of projects supported by Italian funding instruments, guarantees, and partnerships with international financial institutions. Recent emphasis has fallen on energy training, water management, vocational skills, and critical minerals. Italy presents the initiative as a model of equal partnership aimed at mutual development, energy security, and addressing the root causes of irregular migration.
Additional activity this period included a session of the Algerian-Italian strategic dialogue and civil aviation agreements signed in Benghazi. Diplomatic circles also noted the early return to Rome of Italy’s ambassador to Ethiopia, officially attributed to personal reasons and a forthcoming new assignment.
Taken together, the week’s events underscore Italy’s focus on North Africa as a strategic priority while extending the Mattei Plan’s reach across the continent. Energy supply routes, infrastructure links, and migration cooperation remain central to Rome’s approach.
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