Feb. 20 – Sub-Saharan Africa is composed of 48 countries and 80 million inhabitants. “It’s a safe investment area for Italian interests – explained Mattia Miglio, director of the internationalization agency Network Globale – with steady growth at 5% in the last three years.” Several business representatives from Rome and Lazio gathered yesterday in the Rome Chamber of Commerce for the initiative “One day in…” thanks to which they learned of the opportunities offered by the African continent and met with representatives from Mozambique, South Africa, Nigeria and Angola. Inacio Tomas Muzime, political counselor for the Embassy of Mozambique in Rome, highlighted the country’s political stability and the presence of numerous natural resources: “In all our regions – he said – you can find important opportunities for investment and our government is promoting initiatives to facilitate investment.” The major investment areas – for Mozambique, as for the other countries – are: agriculture, tourism, transport, communication and energy. The Councilor for Political Affairs at the Nigerian Embassy in Rome, Ndaman Aliyu reassured the Italian audience regarding the Islamic terrorist organization Boko Haram: “It’s not cause for alarm, they are in a specific area of our country and remain confined there.” Eugenio Bettella, consultant for Rödl & Partner, said that “the continent is moving towards progressive stabilization” and that there is ” progressive growth in their consumption capacity, which offers interesting opportunities for those who want to export and invest in those markets.” Network Globale is setting up a trade mission in late June to Nigeria and to South Africa dedicated to construction and infrastructure. In 2014 the special internationalization company ASPIN will organize a mission in South Africa, in Cape Town, for clothing and interior design companies.
