ITALY - EGYPT, A GROWING PARTNERSHIP: ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND INVESTMENT RELATIONS

Economic relations between Egypt and Italy seem to be on the rise. Italian energy group ENI plans to invest 8 billion euros in each of Egypt, Libya, and Algeria over the next four years, for a total commitment of 24 billion euros, according to CEO Claudio Descalzi. This comes as part of the Mattei Plan to relaunch relations between Egypt and Italy. The Italian energy giant ENI was founded in 1950 by Enrico Mattei, after whom the Mattei plan is named.
 

MATTEI PLAN: 9 COUNTRIES INVOLVED

The Mattei plan was officially announced at the end of 2023 and it was presented at the January 2024 Italy-Africa Summit. The plan aims to redefine Italy’s development strategy in Africa, piloting nine countries: Algeria, the DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, and Tunisia. The six primary pillars of the plan focus on education and training, health, energy, water, agriculture, and infrastructure.

The summit was attended by many stakeholders, including government officials such as Prime Minister Meloni. Different sectors have expressed different intentions for backing this plan. Meloni has expressed intentions for economic development with Africa and has simultaneously expressed intentions of migration management through this plan.

In February 2025, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi had a phone call with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, during which they discussed interventions focused on education, professional training, renewable energy, and sustainable agriculture.


In March 2024, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attended the signing ceremony of the Joint Declaration on the Strategic Partnership between the European Union and Egypt and the signing of the intergovernmental agreements between Italy and Egypt in Cairo. At the end of the ceremony, the press statements of the leaders.  Source: https://www.governo.it/it/media/il-presidente-meloni-egitto/25262

WASTE MANAGEMENT AND BIODIESEL PRODUCTION

Europe has been investing in renewable technologies to reach its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. In 2023, Egypt and Italy discussed green cooperation, particularly in the area of waste management. The countries discussed multiple potential projects, such as the recycling of construction waste and the production of biodiesel through the recycling of cooking oil and agricultural waste. Cooperation on the plastic waste front was also discussed, and Egypt showed interest in Italian technology, which could provide alternatives to plastic packaging.

Egypt and Italy have also been assessing the potential of building a 3 GW High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) subsea cable to export electricity from Egypt to Italy. The project would have the potential to connect the grid from West Sohag in Upper Egypt to Italy's Dolo Substation in the northern Mestre Industrial Area. Earlier this year, a feasibility study was conducted by Italy’s electrical cable manufacturing firm Prysmian Group, Italian energy consultant CESI, Emirati energy group K&K, and Germany’s energy company Siemens. The interconnector cable project is expected to cost around 15-20 billion dollars, according to CNN Arabic. If completed, Egypt will be able to export renewable energy to Italy to help the country achieve its decarbonization targets.

In 2021, ENI signed an agreement with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding (Egas) and the state-owned Egyptian Electricity Holding Company (EEHC), which allowed the study of projects to produce green hydrogen by using electricity generated from renewable sources and blue hydrogen, by storing CO₂ in depleted natural gas fields. The Mattei plan indicates that the production of electricity from green and blue hydrogen remains a topic of great interest, especially for the Zohr offshore field, which exports a third of its domestic production.

Carbon tax is becoming a key factor in international trade between Egypt and Italy particularly with the upcoming implementation of CBAM. To prevent carbon leakage, the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will go into effect from 2026 on certain carbon intensive non-EU imported goods. CBAM will apply financially to aluminum, fertilizers, cement, electricity, hydrogen iron and steel (including screws, bolts, nuts, and goods made from these materials).

Since the second and the third top exports from Egypt to Italy in 2023 were Raw Aluminium ($255M), and Nitrogenous Fertilizers ($245M), Egypt is expected to be amongst the top countries affected by CBAM. As the prices of these goods become less competitive due to tariffs, it will lead to a reduction in exports from Egypt to the EU.
 

GREEN HYDROGEN FROM NORTH AFRICA TO EUROPE

One of the newer areas of cooperation between Egypt and Italy is green hydrogen. Multiple countries in the EU, including Italy, have been lobbying for green hydrogen projects in North Africa. Italy has been a strong proponent of Africa-based hydrogen imports. However, hydrogen imports from North Africa might not be enough to meet Europe’s demand, especially as the industry is still in its nascent stage. In February of 2024, the European Commission approved 6.9 billion euros in aid to accelerate the rollout of green hydrogen infrastructure across Europe, namely France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Slovakia.

Around 40% of Italy’s consumption of natural gas used to be from Russia before the invasion of Ukraine. The energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin said in December 2024 that Italy was “desperate” to reduce the cost of energy, which is partly why Italy is looking for alternatives to Russian imports. Currently, the European Commission is expected to introduce legislative proposals next month aimed at ending all imports of Russian gas into the EU.

A key sign of the Mattei Plan’s launch in Egypt came in March 2024 with the opening of a new Cairo office for Italy’s development bank, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP). As part of the plan’s launch, CDP signed a memorandum of understanding with the Egyptian government to provide 45 million euros and 8.6 million euros in concessional loans to support Egyptian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through its Revolving Fund for Development Cooperation. The announcement was accompanied by two additional agreements, each worth 100 million euros, to fund sustainable development projects focused on food security for African SMEs and to enhance partnerships between Italian and African businesses.
 

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY

The agricultural goals outlined for Egypt by the Mattei plan involve the production of rotational agricultural crops such as wheat, soybeans, corn, and sunflower. In December 2023, the Italian company BF International signed an agri-food agreement to be implemented in partnership with Mostaqbal Masr in a 15,000-hectare plot in the Dabaa region. In this agreement, Egypt will provide the land and irrigation infrastructure for the cultivation of these rotational crops, and Italy will provide the investments in machinery, seeds, technology, and farming methods. This project may also be accompanied by vocational training.

In March of 2023, as a part of the EU-KAFI "Contribution Agreement Under the EU Food Facility" program, the EU and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) signed a 40 million dollar agreement to support food security in Egypt. The project, which is led by AICS, aims to improve the mechanization of agriculture in the Delta region.

In December of 2024, the Egyptian Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation signed an agreement with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to enhance livestock development and advance food security. The initiative is titled “Addressing Climate Change through Sustainable Livestock Management” and received a grant of 4 million euros from the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation. The strategy focuses on “improving local cattle and buffalo breeding, developing high-yield dairy and meat breeds, and achieving self-sufficiency in livestock production.”

The Mattei plan has been criticized for its anti-immigration policy, as Italian Prime Minister Meloni has expressed that immigration management is a strategic component of the initiative. The plan has also raised doubts regarding financing, as half of its funding is from the Italian Climate Change fund. Additionally, ENI's previous agrofuel projects in Kenya and the Republic of Congo were not successful, as shown by several articles.
 

EGYPT AND BEYOND: ECOMONDO’S FOCUS ON AFRICA

Since 2021, Ecomondo has placed Africa at the heart of its international development strategy, with the aim of expanding its network, increasing the visibility of its exhibitors, and fostering connections and dialogue among key stakeholders. In line with this objective, it hosts a series of events throughout the year, involving Egypt and other countries included in the Mattei Plan, which are held alongside the main event taking place in November.

Among the forthcoming promotional and development activities is a webinar aimed at the ambassadors of several key African nations. Organised in collaboration with Assafrica - Confindustria, the event will take place online on Wednesday, the 21^st of May.

Then, on the 8^th of July 2025, a delegation made up of companies, members of the Scientific Technical Committee, and Ecomondo staff, with the support of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, will organise a roadshow stop in Cairo focused on this country and the main areas of development in terms of sustainability (agriculture, water resource management, circular economy). 

Finally, within the conference programme at Ecomondo 2025, in Rimini from the 4^th to the 7^th of November, the fifth edition of Africa Green Growth will be held. This event, focused on investment and development and export opportunities of Italian and European technologies, is organised in collaboration with the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security and the Mission Structure for the implementation of the Mattei Plan at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
 

Article written by Noor El Leil