Report

Lessons from Giorgia Meloni’s plan for Africa

This report from UK think tank the Coalition for Global Prosperity examines lessons from Giorgia Meloni’s plan for Africa.

British international development policy has lost public support, and successive governments have responded by cutting the aid budget rather than addressing why. Two-thirds of Britons favoured cutting the budget in 2020, while in 2024 £2.8 billion of UK aid was spent not overseas, but on housing asylum seekers in Britain. The debate has increasingly become one about percentages and caps, rather than what development policy is actually for.

Lessons from Giorgia Meloni’s Mattei Plan for Africa argues that Britain should move beyond this debate and build a redesigned strategy centred on a clearly stated national interest and mutually beneficial partnerships. Italy offers a model to learn from: development sits under the Prime Minister’s direct ownership, is organised around six priorities, and brings trade, investment and development finance into a single framework. The Mattei Plan now spans 18 African partner countries.

The report sets out recommendations in three categories.

First, the overarching machinery of British development policy must change, adopting a clear pillar structure, communicating what Britain does and why, and amending the 0.7% Act to replace a rigid annual target with a credible, outcomes-based commitment.

Second, the introduction of Advanced Development Partnerships which are named, visible agreements with the Commonwealth and Africa’s growth economies, built around trade, investment and the instruments Britain already owns in British International Investment and UK Export Finance.

Third, targeting the countries where genuine partnership is not possible, like those with hostile governments, active conflicts, or no diplomatic relations with the UK.

The report proposes a separate framework of returns, humanitarian, enforcement and support for first-safe- country hosting, distinct from advanced development spending.