The sustainable management of water is one of the main strategic challenges of our time.
Press Release
Water management at the center of Italy–Africa cooperation
Water is not only a primary resource but also a crucial element for stability, growth and the sustainable development of territories. Through the Mattei Plan, water, together with sustainable infrastructure, represents one of the pillars of cooperation between Italy and African countries. Italy’s engagement with Africa is based on a model of equal partnership aimed at strengthening skills, promoting technology transfer and building long-term solutions for access to and efficient management of water systems.
In this perspective, dialogue between institutions and sector operators seeks to strengthen synergies, promote targeted investments and outline a shared vision that recognizes the strategic and vital value of water. These issues were discussed in Rome at the Italian Senate during the event “Water resource in Italy and Africa”, promoted by Sogesid S.p.A., the Italian state environmental engineering company.
Water management and the Mattei Plan for Africa
Sustainable water management is one of the key strategic challenges of our time. Climate change, rising demand and infrastructure vulnerabilities require integrated policies capable of combining environmental protection, supply security and economic development.
Across many African regions, the preservation of water resources is also threatened by environmental contamination, excessive exploitation and declining quality of surface and groundwater. Advanced monitoring systems, the reuse of treated wastewater and innovative purification technologies are increasingly necessary, within a circular economy framework and with the goal of protecting ecosystems. Only integrated governance and responsible management can ensure the availability of clean water for future generations.
According to the latest annual Report to Parliament submitted by the Italian Government in 2025, the Mattei Plan for Africa, regarding water, aims to develop the water sector across the continent along the entire water cycle, from supply to distribution and reuse. Particular attention is given to the design, construction, management and maintenance of complex hydraulic infrastructure and water treatment plants, as well as to water quality monitoring systems.
Institutions: water scarcity is a global challenge
Francesco Lollobrigida, Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry, said: “Today the need to make the best possible use of a precious resource such as water is particularly evident, even in areas that in the past were not used to facing this type of challenge. In this sense, answers can also come from those countries that have made very significant progress in technology, innovation and research. For too long Africa has been approached almost exclusively with a charitable perspective. The real change consists instead in considering this continent as an equal partner, contributing through targeted actions, including the development of agriculture. Aligning needs and intervention potential is certainly one of the most relevant aspects of these initiatives.”
According to Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, Minister of Environment and Energy Security: “The climate has changed and this is producing clear consequences for biodiversity. Today the amount of water available is often insufficient. Water is an essential good and its management represents a real global emergency. In this sense, it is necessary to guarantee effective management of water systems in every municipality, urban area and across the different river basins. At national level we must ensure more sustainable and efficient management levels, also through a rationalization of the number of operators, currently very high, with the aim of acting effectively across the entire water cycle. The emergency is global, just think of the tensions linked to water in Africa and the Middle East. At the global level, the actions and cooperation we pursue, also with Sogesid, are part of a broader framework of shared responsibility.”
Edmondo Cirielli, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, stated: “The scarcity of water resources causes economic crises and serious hardship for populations, fueling instability, tensions and forced migration. The Mattei Plan places the issue of water and its scarcity at the center, identifying concrete solutions together with African partners. In this perspective, important projects have been launched in Libya and Tunisia, linked both to strengthening food self-sufficiency through land reclamation and agricultural development, and to improving sanitary conditions in several areas of North Africa. These initiatives help activate economic development and growth by making Italian expertise and skills available. Helping Africa also means helping Italy, the stability and prosperity of the African continent represent a great opportunity for our country, while a continent in difficulty would expose everyone to very serious risks from many points of view.”
Sogesid’s role in water infrastructure and cooperation
Errico Stravato, Chief Executive Officer of Sogesid S.p.A., said: “Sogesid S.p.A., as the state environmental engineering company, within the framework of the Mattei Plan promotes an integrated approach to the management of water aimed at supporting the development of efficient and resilient infrastructure and strengthening cooperation with African and Mediterranean countries, recognizing water not only as a primary good but also as a strategic lever for development, food security and social cohesion. In this perspective lies the conviction that water management must be addressed starting from the national territorial scale, enhancing the various sectoral, managerial and regulatory interconnections, and then transferred and adapted to the contexts of Mediterranean countries. This vision is shared with partners of excellence such as the Southern Apennines District Basin Authority, which in its territorial planning already looks to the Mediterranean dimension, and with the One Water Committee with which we will participate in the Euro-Mediterranean Water Forum scheduled for September in Rome. In this framework, the objective is to identify a driving theme in climate change mitigation and prevention, strengthen it within the different national governance components and develop it in an interconnected logic with the Mediterranean, in order to share and transfer it to the countries involved in the Mattei Plan.”
Among the speakers at the event were also Marco Scurria, Vice President of the parliamentary group of Fratelli d’Italia; Barbara Marinali, President of Acea; Fabio Fatuzzo, Extraordinary Commissioner for Wastewater Treatment; Marco Riccardo Rusconi, Director of AICS; Luca Dal Fabbro, President of Utilitalia; Nunzio Ferrulli, Director of Institutional Relations at Italgas; and Massimo Gargano, Director General of ANBI.
