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The Mattei Plan for Africa, launched by the Italian Government in 2024 with the aim of strengthening economic, energy, and diplomatic relations with the African continent, is gradually establishing one of its key directions in the energy field. According to information updated as of June 30, 2026, and contained in the Annual Report to Parliament on the Plan’s implementation status, €460 million have been mobilized for five initiatives specifically related to the energy sector. This amount represents a component of the overall €1.2 billion approved, starting in November 2024 and up to the date in question, by the Technical Committee of the Italian Climate Fund. The size of the resources allocated to energy therefore confirms that the energy dimension is not an ancillary element of the Mattei Plan, but is increasingly becoming one of its main operational tools. The centrality of this area must be interpreted in light of the persistent difficulties characterizing energy access on the African continent. The availability of adequate energy infrastructure is, in fact, an essential condition not only for economic growth, but also for the development of healthcare systems, education, employment, and productive activities.
THE ITALIAN CLIMATE FUND AND FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS
A significant part of the Mattei Plan’s financial strategy is channeled through the Italian Climate Fund, whose annual budget, managed by the Ministry of the Environment, amounts to €840 million. Its activities are primarily focused on reducing climate-altering emissions, promoting the use of renewable energy sources, and adapting to the effects of climate change. An important feature is the Fund’s revolving structure, which allows for the use of various financial instruments to support initiatives. These include subsidized loans, guarantees, and non-repayable grants, through a combination of intervention methods potentially capable of adapting to the different economic and financial conditions of the recipient countries. From this perspective, financing African energy infrastructure serves a dual purpose. On the one hand, it helps fill a historical investment and infrastructure gap; on the other, it allows future development to be guided toward systems characterized by greater environmental sustainability.
THE GLOBAL GAP IN ENERGY ACCESS
The urgency of such interventions is particularly evident in the data contained in the joint report prepared by the International Energy Agency, the International Renewable Energy Agency, the United Nations, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization. The document shows that the goal of ensuring access to clean, reliable, and economically sustainable energy for the entire world population is still far from being achieved. Around 655 million people worldwide lack access to electricity. Inequalities are also fueled by the difficulty of ensuring adequate financial flows to poorer economies and developing countries. A particularly significant example is the construction of off-grid solar plants and mini-electricity grids in rural areas, where extending traditional infrastructure can be economically and logistically complex.
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA AS THE MAIN AREA OF INTERVENTION
The gap is particularly pronounced in sub-Saharan Africa. In this area, over 560 million people lack electricity, while approximately 970 million lack access to clean cooking systems. These data help explain why energy represents one of the sectors in which the Mattei Plan can have a potentially significant impact. Expanding energy access in rural and remote areas can have effects that go beyond the purely infrastructural dimension. Electrification can improve the functioning of healthcare facilities, support local economic activity, foster digitalization, and expand educational opportunities. Furthermore, the diffusion of renewable energy production technologies makes it possible to simultaneously address the issues of energy access and emissions reduction. It is precisely this convergence between development and ecological transition that makes the Mattei Plan’s energy interventions strategic.
FROM EXTRACTIVE LOGIC TO A NEW ENERGY PARTNERSHIP
The financial dimension, however, must be accompanied by a reflection on the cooperation model that the Mattei Plan intends to promote: cooperation should therefore evolve towards a relationship in which value creation, technology, and expertise are more widely shared. This issue appears particularly significant considering the continent’s energy potential. Africa has approximately 60% of the world’s best solar resources, yet receives only 2% of global investments in renewable energy sources. There is therefore a marked asymmetry between potential and investment capacity. Reducing this gap represents one of the main opportunities for an energy cooperation policy geared towards sustainable development.
TRAINING AS TRANSITION INFRASTRUCTURE
In this context, energy training takes on strategic importance equal to that of infrastructure investments. The availability of systems and technologies, in fact, is not sufficient to ensure a lasting transition unless the countries involved simultaneously develop the skills needed to design, manage, and maintain new energy systems. A significant step in this direction is the Memorandum of Understanding signed on July 7, 2026, between the Mission Structure for the implementation of the Mattei Plan for Africa and the Enel Foundation. The agreement, signed by Mission Structure coordinator Fabrizio Saggio and Enel Foundation President and Enel Group CEO Flavio Cattaneo, defines a collaborative framework for energy training on the continent. The Memorandum aims to coordinate training activities with the university and higher education system, both in Italy and in African countries. The initiative is part of a process already underway through programs that have produced measurable results and contributed to the construction of a recognized training ecosystem. Among the experiences cited are the Pan African Training Center on Renewable Energy and the Energy Transition in Morocco, created in collaboration with the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, activities developed in Kenya with Strathmore University, and those implemented in South Africa with the University of Pretoria.
YOUTH, WOMEN, AND LOCAL SKILLS
The most significant aspect of training cooperation is the desire to better tailor educational programs to the specific needs of local communities. The goal is to train professionals capable of actively supporting the transformation of African energy systems, leveraging existing local skills. Special attention is given to young people and women, including in relation to access to the labor market. This approach broadens the scope of energy cooperation, transforming it from a simple technology transfer to an investment in human capital. Training thus becomes a structural component of the transition, enabling the creation of the professional conditions necessary for investments to produce lasting benefits in the recipient countries.
AN INTEGRATED PERSPECTIVE FOR THE MATTEI PLAN
The interventions funded thus far and the strengthening of cooperation in the field of training therefore outline a possible evolution of the Mattei Plan. Energy can be the meeting point between development needs, the fight against energy poverty, the fight against climate change, technological innovation, and the creation of skilled jobs. To make this strategy fully effective, however, it will be essential to foster the emergence of local markets and supply chains dedicated to clean technologies, starting with renewable sources, combining material investments with the consolidation of professional skills. Economic and political cooperation will thus be able to contribute to the construction of an autonomous production capacity and not be limited to the construction of individual infrastructures. From this perspective, the figure of €460 million mobilized in the energy sector represents not only a measure of the financial commitment already undertaken, but also an indicator of the growing importance of energy in the architecture of the Mattei Plan. The effectiveness of this investment will depend on the ability to connect infrastructure, technology, financing, training, and local industrial development. The challenge, therefore, is to transform Africa’s energy potential into a concrete driver of shared development. The high availability of solar resources, the persistent deficit in access to electricity, and insufficient investment in renewables make the continent a space in which the energy transition can play a decisive role. In this scenario, the Mattei Plan can acquire particular relevance precisely if it succeeds in integrating the expansion of energy access with the development of the skills needed to independently manage the change. Energy training, along with investments in infrastructure and clean technologies, therefore represents one of the essential conditions for cooperation with Africa to evolve towards a more balanced, sustainable partnership model oriented towards long-term value creation.