PRESS NOTE

Milan, June 22, 2017 – “In 2010, the population of sub-Saharan Africa was about 1 billion and it is forecast to grow to 3 billion by 2050. This calls for an answer for a continent that is experiencing such strong demographic growth, and the only answer is to create a future for Africa, a future made of work and well-being that infrastructure can create.” Such was the statement made by Pietro Salini, Chief Executive of Salini Impregilo at the “Improving Entrepreneurship for Industrialisation in Africa” organized by Confindustria, Assolombarda and the E4Impact Foundation, of which Salini Impregilo is a founding member.

At the event in Milan where the OECD’s African Economic Outlook 2017 was also presented, leading Italian business leaders active in Africa discussed the issue of long-term growth on the continent, which is witnessing greater investment and the creation of a private sector that promises quick and inclusive growth.

Among the proposals made by the African Economic Outlook 2017 is the development of local skills to make African companies more innovative and competitive, as well as a wider range of financial instruments available for the creation of new businesses.

“It is necessary to create work in the places where people live to avoid that they leave and look for work where it does not exist, like Europe,” said Salini. “Infrastructure contributes to the creation of jobs and local skills, not only technical but also managerial. It is a factor applied to every growth model. But there is also a need for financial instruments to make the construction of infrastructure possible, instruments that have up until now been missing. These could be under the form of a system of guarantees that encourages private investors to put money in the continent.”    

Salini Impregilo has been present in Africa for nearly 70 years. Among the more than 400 projects with its imprint in 40 countries is everything from the largest dams in Africa like Gibe III and GERD in Ethiopia, Kariba in Zimbabwe and Akosombo in Ghana, to the great arteries of transportation like the 900-kilometre Trans-Cameroon Railway and the Trans-Gabon Railway, to the rescue operation of the Abu Simbel temples in Egypt.

It is an activity that represents 17% of the Group’s total revenue and is expected to employ some 20,000 people in 2017 - a very serious commitment to creating jobs in the countries where it is present, such as Ethiopia where in 2016 the various number of projects in which it is involved the created more than 165,000 direct and indirect jobs.

 “A greater participation on the part of the private sector with greater investment, training and job creation is key to encouraging development on the continent,” he said.