Descendant of Eni Founder Threatens to Sue Italian Government Over Mattei Plan for Africa

BRUSSELS — A descendant of the founder of Italian oil giant Eni wants to sue Giorgia Meloni's government for using his family name in a major funding program investing across the African continent, the Italian press reported on Wednesday. According to the Italian daily La Stampa, Pietro Mattei issued a cease and desist letter to the cabinet of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni last month requesting that his family name be removed from the government's so-called Mattei Plan for Africa, a multi-billion investment program. Pietro, the nephew of Enrico Mattei who founded Eni in 1953, says the Meloni government's policies do not reflect the family's views. "I find the government's policies truly unacceptable. On immigration, on energy costs, on relations with the United States," Mattei told La Stampa, threatening to bring the issue up with the courts. He said the government's use of the family name amounted to "propaganda." Launched in 2024, the Mattei Plan for Africa funds agricultural education and energy infrastructure projects across multiple African countries. One of the projects under the Mattei plan is the production of agricultural feedstock in Kenya for biofuel production, run by Eni Kenya, a subsidiary of Eni. Last month a joint investigation by POLITICO and the investigative outlet SourceMaterial revealed that some of the farmers involved in the project had been left without food production capacity after the crops meant to produce biofuel failed. Last week Kenya and Italy signed a new three-year trade and investment plan under the Mattei Plan for Africa during a state visit of the Kenyan President William Ruto in Rome. The Prime Minister's office declined to comment immediately on the letter.