ROME (ITALY) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – A training course dedicated to Italian companies that wish to acquire skills to operate in the geographies included in the Mattei Plan, which aims to create commercial relationships and enhance Italian excellence. It is the “Africa Champion Program”, launched by Sace with the patronage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with the support of the mission structure for the implementation of the Mattei Plan of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers together with institutional actors such as the Ice Agency, Cop, Simest, Confindustria Assafrica & Mediterraneo and Càmara de Comèrcio Mocambique-Itàlia, which will officially start in 2025.
“It is a training and meeting program with those who may be the new players with whom Italian companies can interact in Africa. Together with the world of Italian institutions and the actors of the system, we want to accompany this approach towards Africa and we can do it because we start from what is our knowledge of that territory. Since the beginning of the Mattei Plan we have already carried out 1.2 billion initiatives and we are starting from here to ensure that there is even greater impetus for SMEs to enter Africa”, explained Alessandra Ricci, CEO of Sace, underlining how the current geopolitical situation is not creating difficulties because “it has affected other areas. We had already identified Africa as one of the potential so-called gate countries, in fact, we are opening a new office in Rabat in Morocco in addition to the other two offices in Cairo and Johannesburg”.
For Alessandro Terzulli, Chief Economist of Sace, it is “a continent with high potential, it is positioned to capture some macro trends that will increasingly assert themselves such as the demographic one, that of the development of a middle class, urbanization, the technological one. A driving approach is necessary for our companies to be able to seize the potential, but it is also important to shape the bilateral aspect”.
The project is divided into two phases: a training course divided into 3 modules with vertical insights on Ivory Coast, Egypt, Morocco, Mozambique, Tunisia, Kenya and on three key sectors: energy, infrastructure and agri-food; Business Matching, or a second phase dedicated to the creation of business opportunities through business matching sessions, between Italian companies and African counterparts, also within the scope of Sacès push strategy program.
Africa Champion Program is just the beginning of a series of opportunities for discussion and sharing of visions and concrete tools to support Italian companies that are interested in approaching the African market or that are already present and intend to strengthen their presence in the geographical area. Africa looks to the future with the momentum of a region that, after difficult years, aims to be the next protagonist of global growth. Despite the usual, profound differences between the over 50 countries that make up the African continent, positive signals are emerging from markets of interest for our companies. Trade between Italy and Africa has already shown considerable potential during 2024, reaching 60 billion euros, as shown by Istat data collected by Sacès Sudi Office. The forecasts for 2025 are positive: an increase of 7.7% is expected in North Africa and 8.5% in Sub-Saharan Africa, considering 14 billion and 6.5 billion respectively of Italian exports recorded in 2023. In this context, Sacès new approach for Africa has seen a growing exposure to the continent: from 2022 Sace has approved 1.2 billion in 2024, the start date of the Mattei Plan. To the traditional export credit offer, in collaboration with the Mission Structure of the Mattei Plan, Sace has added push operations to strengthen the role of Italian companies in Africa, identifying high-potential geographies such as Ivory Coast, Senegal and the first Push Strategy operation in Benin, granting a guarantee to cover a loan of 120 million euros destined for the Ministry of Finance of Benin. Furthermore, Sace has guaranteed the first financing of 100 million euros to the multilateral development bank Trade Development Bank (TDB) to promote sustainable growth and African regional integration, increasing export opportunities for Italian companies.
(ITALPRESS).
-Photo credit: xb1/Italpress-
