The history of the six-legged dog is closely bound to Africa, past, present and future: it is the continent where Eni took its first steps outside of Italy in 1954. With almost 70% of its population under thirty years of age, Africa is assuming an increasingly strategic role in the international landscape, both geopolitically and economically, and is striving for greater integration in the global value chain, required to promote economic and social development in the continent. In this context, Africa is preparing to face the challenge of the energy transition, which in sub-Saharan Africa must go hand in hand with energy access, from which hundreds of millions of people continue to be excluded. This concerns in particular access to clean forms of energy (e.g. clean cooking), which is one of the keys to improving the quality of life of communities and promoting their development. These are complex challenges for a continent whose rapid economic and demographic growth requires ever greater amounts of energy, and where the energy transition is an opportunity to enhance its own abundant resources: natural gas, which thanks to its lower emission impact compared to other fossil fuels, is an ideal bridge fuel on the way to decarbonising the energy mix, as well as an important resource for guaranteeing the energy security of Italy and Europe. Equally important is the biofuel chain, which is fundamental for contributing to the decarbonisation of transport.
Eni’s actions in North Africa, on the other hand, are based on the pro-active and lasting collaboration with our partners, achieving a number of targets. These go from meeting increasing local consumption to supporting the energy mix efficiency and modernisation demands, being leaders in a changing sector that is experimenting new forms of energy. In this context, energy security has become more urgent, on both sides of the Mediterranean. Eni will therefore be playing a leading role with local partners in many projects, working together to lead the continent towards a safer, more sustainable and fairer future, especially for the new generations.
