– Tunisian President Kais Saied participated in the Italy-Africa summit in Rome, held under the "Mattei Plan for Africa," in the presence of 27 heads of state and government.
The summit comes amid disagreements over illegal migration and the demand of the South countries for financial aid to provide employment opportunities to curb the phenomenon from growing.
Top officials on both sides of the Mediterranean want to benefit from this international gathering to achieve the development goals in energy in the long and medium term. They also seek to launch a new phase of cooperation.
The summit considers issues affecting Africa and Europe, including climate change, food security, irregular migration, and clean energy.
Several observers believe the summit aims to secure the European Union's energy supplies and accelerate development in African countries. They also think it seeks to slow down migration flows toward Europe.
However, many do not believe the summit will result in immediate decisions due to the conflict of interests between the two parties.
It may also apply to a large extent to Tunisia following the signing of a strategic partnership agreement between Tunisia and Europe.
Italy, which leads the list of European negotiators, is seeking to curb the flow of migrants to its coasts and is brandishing a crucial financial aid package to achieve this goal. Still, Rome seeks to ensure the flow of energy after the shock that the markets experienced as a result of the outbreak of Russia's war on Ukraine.
Saied stressed the importance of energy development, highlighting Tunisia's keenness to provide a sound and appropriate investment climate to encourage businessmen to establish partnerships and exchange relations with their Tunisian counterparts in promising sectors such as renewable energy, water desalination, health, and pharmaceuticals.
Tunisian energy expert Ghazi bin Jami said Tunis plans to enhance work on investment in renewable energy in the coming years, explaining that the national energy plan aims to reduce the country's dependence on gas production.
Bin Jami told Tunisian News Agency (TAP) highlighting the importance of overcoming the structural challenges by working to produce alternative energies, such as solar and wind energy.
The ELMED Interconnector Project between Tunisia and Italy is a planned bi-directional power exchange link among the most critical projects.
Italian electricity transmission system operator Terna and Tunisian state-owned electricity and gas utility company STEG will develop the project.
However, Tunisian authorities hope this summit would go beyond investing in energy to demanding a radical treatment of illegal migration from the coast of Tunisia towards Italy.
Last July, Rome hosted a conference that resulted in a preliminary agreement to confront the influx of the growing number of migrants to Europe.
The meeting agreed to provide the necessary funding for aiding countries of origin and transit for asylum.
The conference was held with the participation of 20 countries to reduce irregular migration and build partnerships in agriculture, infrastructure, and health sectors.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni promised to hold a donors conference on undocumented migration.
Saied said that the issue of such migration cannot be solved through unilateral movements, describing it as a "form of modern slavery."
Seven months ago, Tunisia and the EU signed a "strategic partnership" deal that includes combatting human traffickers and tightening borders during a sharp increase in boats leaving the North African nation for Europe.
Europe also pledged to provide aid worth $1.1 billion to support the Tunisian economy.
The Italian authorities say that about 80,000 people crossed the Mediterranean and reached the coast of Italy during the first half of last year, compared to 33,000 during the same period in 2022, most of whom set off from the Tunisian coast.
