(Adnkronos) – Italy wants to boost the stability and security of Niger – a regional migration hub – the government said Thursday as foreign minister Antonio Tajani and interior minister Matteo Piantedosi visited Niamey on the last leg of a three-day trip to West Africa.
In Niamey, Tajani and Piantedosi were set to hold talks with Niger’s president, Abdourahamane Tchiani, premier Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine, foreign minister Bakary Yaou Sangare, and interior minister Mohamed Boubacar Toumba, said a foreign ministry statement.
Tajani “will reaffirm to his Nigerien counterparts Italy’s commitment to the stability and security of Niger and the wider region, as well as to local socio-economic development, including through aid initiatives,” the statement said.
“Niger is one of Italy’s priority countries for development cooperation,” said the statement.
Current aid projects worth some 94 million euros are currently underway funded by 20 million euros in concessional loans and 74 million euros in grants, according to the statement.
Food security, education and vocational training, job creation and entrepreneurship are at the heart of Italy’s development strategy in Niger, with the wider goal of addressing the root causes of migration, the statement underlined.
Italy’s bilateral training support mission (MISIN) is the only remaining Western military presence in Niger and Tajani and Piantedosi were later due to visit MISIN’s base and meet troops and the contingent’s commander, General Ivan Cioffi, the statement said.
MISIN “is a tangible sign of Italy’s strong support for Niger’s stability and of its steadfast commitment to the fight against terrorism, irregular migration and illicit trafficking,” the statement concluded.
