Decoding the news. While Cairo hosts its first joint air force drill with China, Rome offers security, labour, and trade partnerships rooted in the Italy’s Africa strategy, the Mattei Plan—the goal is anchoring key regional players to Italy and the West to prevent geopolitical drifts.
State of play. Tajani’s visit reflects Italy’s grand-strategy (from Africa to Indo-Mediterranean) forging pragmatic, structured partnerships with pivotal states like Egypt to manage common interests and contain the expanding footprint of rival powers such as Russia and China. The Today’s focus is on:
- Labour and Migration: Italy and Egypt signed a deal to launch a joint Employment Center to place Egyptian technical school graduates in local and Italian labour markets.
- The initiative, part of the EU’s Talent Partnerships and Italy’s Mattei Plan, supports regular migration channels and workforce needs.
- Security Cooperation: Talks addressed ways to curb irregular migration, with a focus on Egypt’s potential role in disrupting smuggling routes from eastern Libya—a zone influenced by Russian-backed actors.
- Regional Diplomacy: Italy backed Egypt’s mediation between Israel and Hamas, supported the Arab plan for Gaza’s reconstruction, and reaffirmed its commitment to Lebanon and the UNIFIL mission while welcoming U.S.-Iran nuclear talks.
- Economic Ties: The visit advanced cooperation in energy, infrastructure, agri-food, and chemicals — strategic sectors within Italy’s export push beyond the EU.
Strategic context. As ISPI’s Federica Saini Fasanotti remarked, a broader U.S. repositioning—in line with recent intelligence hearings focusing on Russian and Chinese influence in Africa—is ongoing.
- Just days before Tajani’s visit, Cairo launched its first-ever joint air force drill with China—“Eagles of Civilization 2025”—involving Chinese J-10C fighters, surveillance aircraft, and refuelling tankers.
- The drill showcased China’s ability to project power 6,000 kilometres from home and Egypt’s interest in evaluating advanced Chinese platforms.
- This growing military cooperation with Beijing signals that North African countries are geopolitical swing states—open to influence from multiple directions.
- Italy’s engagement, like recent U.S. moves in Libya, aims to offer viable Western alternatives and prevent strategic drift.
What we’re watching. The new Employment Center is expected to be operationalised swiftly, potentially serving as a blueprint for future African labour partnerships.
- Meanwhile, Rome will likely intensify its diplomatic balancing in the region, coupling development tools with clear security and strategic messaging.
