Inside Italy-backed Mattei Plan to speed up Africa’s growth

• Mattei Plan seeks to mobilize investments to tackle hunger, scale up agricultural output, and reduce the drivers of forced migration by investing in climate-aligned infrastructure.
• Central to Mattei Plan is the $170 billion Rome Process/Mattei Plan Financing Facility (RPFF), a multi-donor special fund designed to support infrastructure projects aligned with climate goals.
• The deal also seeks to inject up to €400 million into private equity funds over the next five years.

Italy is increasingly positioning itself as an important player in Africa’s development journey with the rollout of the Mattei Plan—a bold initiative aimed at catalyzing economic transformation across the continent.

Named after Enrico Mattei, the visionary founder of Italy’s national oil company ENI who championed equitable North-South cooperation, the Mattei Plan represents a reimagined partnership model that prioritizes shared prosperity, sustainable development, and strategic collaboration.

At the heart of this initiative is the African Development Bank (AfDB), which Italy has chosen as its primary financial partner to implement the plan. This strategic alignment underscores Rome’s intent to engage Africa not as a passive recipient of aid, but as an active partner in growth.

Food security, migration, climate action at core of Mattei Plan

On May 8, 2025, a high-profile Italian delegation visited the AfDB headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, reaffirming Italy’s commitment to fast-tracking the Mattei Plan. Led by Stefano Gatti, Director General for Development Cooperation, and Lorenzo Ortona, Head of the Mattei Plan Task Force, the team included representatives from key institutions such as Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), Italy’s Ministry of Finance, the private sector, and civil society.

The delegation met with AfDB’s senior leadership, including Senior Vice President Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade and three vice presidents, to explore areas of synergy. The key focus? Mobilizing investments to tackle hunger, scale up agricultural output, and reduce the drivers of forced migration by investing in climate-aligned infrastructure.

Strategic financial tools to fuel African transformation

Central to the Mattei Plan is the Rome Process/Mattei Plan Financing Facility (RPFF), a multi-donor special fund designed to support sovereign infrastructure projects aligned with climate goals. Backed with over $170 million from Italy and the United Arab Emirates, the RPFF is already operational and is seen as a foundational pillar of the Mattei strategy.

Another crucial mechanism is the Growth and Resilience Platform for Africa (Graf), a collaborative venture between CDP and AfDB that aims to inject up to €400 million into private equity funds over the next five years. Graf’s objective is to catalyze private sector growth by unlocking much-needed capital for African businesses, particularly in sectors like renewable energy, agriculture, and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

These initiatives are further reinforced by a bilateral co-financing facility, designed to foster joint ventures and risk-sharing arrangements between Italian and African stakeholders.

A focus on youth empowerment

What sets the Mattei Plan apart is its results-oriented structure. As noted by AfDB’s Akin-Olugbade, the AfDB and its concessional arm, the African Development Fund, have demonstrated a strong track record of delivering measurable outcomes. Italy’s confidence in these institutions is reflected in its pledge of €298.88 million to the Fund’s 16th replenishment cycle.

Additionally, Italy is also a key backer of Mission 300, a youth entrepreneurship initiative that aligns with the Mattei Plan’s core vision of harnessing Africa’s demographic dividend for economic development. Through support for innovation and private sector job creation, the plan addresses the urgent need to empower Africa’s burgeoning youth population.

“We Need Everything”: Why the time is now

In the words of Energean CEO Mathios Rigas at the recent Invest in African Energy Forum in Paris, “We don’t have the luxury of time.” That sentiment is echoed throughout the Mattei Plan’s framework. The plan is a response to an urgent reality: Africa’s untapped potential in natural resources, human capital, and market size must be unlocked quickly and sustainably.

By creating structures that blend public finance with private sector capital, the Mattei Plan seeks to de-risk investment while offering tangible returns. For policymakers, this is an opportunity to attract high-quality, long-term investments. For investors, it provides a well-defined, strategically backed entry point into high-growth African markets.

A Template for Future Partnerships

Beyond the specifics of financial tools and policy frameworks, the Mattei Plan aspires to be a blueprint for future international cooperation with Africa. It shifts the narrative from dependency to partnership, from charity to investment, and from promises to projects.

In the words of AfDB’s Senior Vice President Akin-Olugbade: “There’s a leveraging effect that multilateral development banks have that sometimes bilateral resources do not have. And we need to take advantage of this.” By engaging trusted institutions and promoting transparency, Italy is building a foundation of credibility and impact.

A careful bet on Africa’s future

The Mattei Plan is not just an aid strategy—it is a bold bet on Africa’s future. The plan combines diplomatic engagement, financial innovation, and political will to position Africa as a global growth engine.

For African leaders, the message is clear: seize this moment to align national development plans with the opportunities the Mattei Plan brings. For the private sector, the tools are being laid out to unlock new markets and generate value. And for international partners, Italy is offering a model of how meaningful cooperation with Africa can—and should—be done in the 21st century.

Read also: AfDB, Ecowas sign $11.78m pact drive commercial rice production