Meloni vows 'cooperation among equals' with African leaders
Italy wants to use its current presidency of the group of the world's seven leading industrialized democracies (G7) to revamp relations with the African continent, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Monday.
The fates of Europe and Africa in particular are closely linked, Meloni said at the start of an Africa summit in Rome.
With a view to colonial history, she added that what is needed today is "cooperation among equals."
The head of the African Union, Azali Assoumani, expressed hope for extensive investment.
Officials said that leaders from more than 20 African countries came to Rome for the meeting, while other African countries sent their foreign ministers.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel took part on behalf of the European Union.
Since the beginning of the year, Italy has held the rotating presidency of the G7, which groups Britain, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, Canada and Germany.
Meloni assured that Africa would have a "place of honour" at the G7 summit in June in Apulia in southern Italy.
Von der Leyen once again spoke out in favour of joint efforts in the fight against gangs of traffickers who bring people across the Mediterranean to Europe at great risk.
Italy gets a particularly large share of migrants arriving in the EU. Last year, more than 160,000 people from Africa disembarked after crossing the Mediterranean.
During her electoral campaign Meloni, the leader of the ultra-right Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy) party, promised to reduce the number of new arrivals. In fact, it has increased significantly since she took office in October 2022.
