The Mattei Plan also passes through space, which is why the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, went to Kenya to inaugurate the Luigi Broglio Space Museum of the Italian Space Agency (Asi) together with the Kenyan Minister of Defence, Soypan Tuya. The visit falls on the 60th anniversary of the foundation of the centre, established in 1964 as part of the San Marco project, where the Italian venture into space began with the launch of the ‘San Marco 2’ satellite. Urso was accompanied to Africa by the president of the Asi, Teodoro Valente, General Franco Federici, military advisor to the Prime Minister and secretary of the Interministerial Committee for Space, by a delegation of the main Italian companies in the aerospace sector (Avio, Leonardo, Telespazio), and by the delegate for Aerospace of Confindustria, Giorgio Marsiaj. “For us, Kenya is a strategic partner: the excellent relations between our two countries also pass through the space sector, with more than 60 years of experience that testifies to the importance of strategic relations,” stressed Minister Urso, who is also the Delegated Authority for Space and Aerospace Policies. The ‘Luigi Broglio’ space centre thus takes on a new mission: to train future African astronauts, so as to extend space cooperation to the countries of the Horn of Africa and East Africa. Space industry on which the Meloni government is focusing, there are 415 Italian companies active in the sector, which is worth EUR 3 billion and is constantly growing. Italy is now a leader in the space economy at the European level, also thanks to the work of the executive that approved the first Italian framework law on space, which opens up space activities to the private sector.
‘Confidence of Italian Entrepreneurs towards the Mattei Plan for Africa’
Aerospace cooperation is added to the other areas of the Mattei Plan (energy, training, agriculture, among others) to achieve the goal set by the Meloni government: to create a synergy between Africa and Italy by making Italian know-how available to combine it with African resources. Laying the foundations for the development of the African continent so as to guarantee young people the right not to emigrate and to build a future in the country where they were born and grew up through a non-predatory approach, as confirmed by Minister Urso: “I had the pleasure of meeting in Nairobi a significant and well-established Italian business community, one of the main ones in Kenya in terms of presence and impact. There is a lot of enthusiasm and confidence on the part of Italian entrepreneurs towards our policies and towards the Mattei Plan for Africa. This community, active in key sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture and tourism, represents a strategic bridge between Italy and Kenya. As a government we will continue to be at the side of this business community and of anyone who wants to invest in this country, supporting the local and Italian economies,’ he said.
