Algeria and Italy sign agreements on energy and migration

Italy and Algeria signed agreements aimed at strengthening cooperation on terrorism, migration control, and energy during a high-level intergovernmental summit held at Rome’s Villa Doria Pamphil, as reported by Reuters via MENAFN on July 23rd.

The talks were led by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, following Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani’s visit to Algiers in March. While details remain vague, a memorandum was signed to combat terrorism and its financing, with no specific threats named.

On migration, both countries agreed to coordinate search and rescue efforts in the Mediterranean, where migrant crossings from North Africa to Europe continue to pose a challenge for Italy. Meloni’s right-wing government, elected in 2022, has prioritised cutting irregular arrivals, often criticising traffickers and NGOs for encouraging departures.

Algeria is Italy’s top trading partner in Africa, with bilateral trade worth nearly €14 billion. Italian investments in Algeria total €8.5 billion, much of it in energy. On the sidelines of the summit, Italian energy giant Eni and Algeria’s state-owned Sonatrach advanced their collaboration, following a $1.3 billion hydrocarbons development deal earlier this month. The partnership comes as Italy seeks to diversify gas imports away from Russia.

A separate preliminary agreement between Sparkle, a subsidiary of Telecom Italia, and Algérie Telecom will aim to lay a new subsea cable linking the two nations. Sparkle is currently set to be sold to a Treasury-led consortium later this year.

“Algeria is a strategic partner, and we are working hard to make this partnership ever broader, stronger and more diversified,” Tajani said at a business forum attended by over 400 firms from both countries.

Despite the warm rhetoric, the deals reflect Italy’s urgent need to manage energy supply and border control more than mutual trust.

Reuters, MENAFN, Maghrebi