(period May 2002- May 2003)
Italian
Government’s support for African countries in the areas mentioned above could
be assessed as follows:
1) Italian ODA rose from 0.14
per cent of the GNP in 2001 up to 0.20 per cent in 2002. At the Monterrey
Summit (March 2002), Italy pledged to raise its ODA to 0.33 per cent of GNP by
2006.
2)
Italy pledged to cancel, in the context of the HIPC initiative, around $4.5
billion for African countries; nearly one fourth of this amount is related to
additional bilateral debt forgiveness beyond the initiative’s requisites. $1.48
billion of debts have been cancelled up to now.
3) On September 2002, the
negotiating process for stipulating the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)
between EU and ACP countries started in the framework of the Cotonou Agreement.
EPAs are supposed to establish, within a few years, a new trade regime between
EU (including Italy) and the ACP countries (including 48 out of 53 African
countries) according to the principles set by the Doha Ministerial Declaration.
At present, the access to the EU market for African exports is still regulated
by the principles of the Lomé Convention – that have been preserved in the Cotonou
Agreement, which replaced it, that provide already a wide access for them.
4) As a member of the
European Union, Italy joins to the EU “Everything But Arms”(EBA) initiative
which grants free access to the EU market to all LDCs’ export (except, of course,
arms).
5) Three high-level
business conferences have been organised, in the period considered, by the
Italian PRA (Personal Representative for Africa), Hon. Alberto Michelini: the
first in Lugano (October 2002), the second in Parma (March 2003) and the third
in Rome (May 2003). All these meetings had the aim to inform a large public of
Italian private entrepreneurs about the business opportunities offered by
Africa and to encourage them to invest in the African market.
6) As far as the channeling
of resources towards NEPAD priorities is concerned, Italy has implemented
several aid programs, both bilaterally and multilaterally aid. Here is a short
list of the major commitments: in the area of governance, Italy is going to implement the “e-government” project
in Mozambique, Nigeria and Tunisia. We have also committed €3.75 millions to
computerize 8 African Parliaments[1],
€1.5 million to the IMF program AFRITAC (African Regional Technical Assistance
Centers) and €500,000 to OECD for an aid program related to the implementation
of the African Peer Review Mechanism; in the field of education, Italy is participating to the first phase (Fast Track
Partnership) of the joint UNESCO – World Bank program “Education for All”
(EFA), that involves 13 African countries.[2]
We are also running a € 25 millions bilateral aid program in the field of
education in Ethiopia; as far as health
is concerned, Italy is the second largest contributor to the Global Fund for
the fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM - € 100 millions in
2002 and other € 100 millions in 2003)[3]
and to the WHO “Roll Back Malaria” initiative. We are also participating to the
WHO program “Stop Tuberculosis in Africa” and implementing aid programs for the
fight against AIDS in 17 African countries and comprehensive health programs in
Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and South Africa; in the field of water and agriculture, Italy
contributed € 50 millions to the FAO Food Security Special Program. We also
contributed to the FAO “Nile River Basin” program and to the activities of the
“Comité inter-Etats del Lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel”. Italy also
committed € 15 millions to a bilateral aid program for rural development in
Ethiopia and it is running other bilateral aid programs in this field in
Mozambique and in the Horn of Africa.
7) As Regional Integration would enlarge the African markets making them
more attractive to foreign private investments, Italy has always stressed,
together with its EU partners, the importance of South- South cooperation to
the Africans. However, this is a field where the final decision lies in African
hands.
Support for NEPAD Priorities
Italy provided support for all NEPAD priority areas. Special attention
was given to Governance, Peace & Security, Health and encouraging Italian
private investments in Africa.
Approximate financial assistance to African countries
since 2001
In 2002, Italian bilateral ODA to Africa reached the amount of € 669
millions (€ 469 millions of this sum is due to debt cancellation). This doesn’t
include our contributions to multilateral aid programs, which are the largest
part of the total Italian ODA.
Technical or financial
assistance to the AU, ECA, ADB or the NEPAD secretariat to develop NEPAD
projects or programmes
In the period considered
(May 2002 – May 2003), Italy provided the following financial contributions to
the International Organizations mentioned above:
§
€ 250,000 to ECA in support of its activities in
strengthening democracy and good governance;
§
€ 300,000 to AU in support to the Special
Protection Unit in Burundi (a further contribution to AU up to
§
€ 200,000 has been earmarked in support to the
African Mission in Burundi);
§
€ 110,000 to AU in support of the upcoming ECOWAS
peacekeeping force in Ivory Coast (Italy pledged another contribution of €
110,000).
Italy also provided the
following financial contributions to activities related to peace and security
in Africa:
§
€ 1.1 million (€ 600,000 in 2002 and € 500,000 in
2003) to the UN trust-fund in support of the activities of the Boundary
Commission for the solution of the Ethiopia-Eritrea conflict;
§
€430,000 for the organisation of the Conference on
National Reconciliation in Somalia (€ 130,000 to the Government of Kenya and €
300,000 to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development – IGAD –
Secretariat);
§
€ 1,1 million for the peace process in Somalia (€
100,000 to IGAD, € 500,000 to the European Commission and € 500,000 to the UN
trust-fund for peace building in Somalia);
§
€ 206,000 for the peace process in Sudan;
§
€ 55,000 for peace talks on Burundi hosted by the
Government of Tanzania;
§
€ 55,000 for the Rwandan Electoral Commission;
§
€ 110,000 to UNICEF for an emergency nutritional
support for children in quartering family and newly accessible areas in Angola.
Besides, Italy provided 60
troops to UNMEE, 3 officers to MONUC II and one military observer to the Joint
Military Commission appointed to assist the Parties in implementing the
cease-fire agreement in Sudan. Italy also provided twice one long-term
political observer in the Nuba Mountains (Sudan) and it is currently providing
5 military observers in the same area.
[1] The project concerns the
Parliaments of the following African countries: Angola, Ghana, Kenya,
Mozambique, Niger, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia.
[2] Those are Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
[3] GFATM committed funds for the total
amount of $ 1,491 millions up to now; 64per cent of this sum went to Africa.