During Marmomac 2025, two partnership agreements were signed with Algeria and Ethiopia, reinforcing the fair’s role as an international hub for industrial cooperation and the promotion of Italian stone technology.
The agreements establish an Italo-Ethiopian marble and granite processing centre and an Italo-Algerian technology training centre for the marble and ornamental stone sector, including a “training quarry” in Kristel, Oran Province.
These initiatives are part of the Mattei Plan for Africa, an Italian strategy launched in 2024 to strengthen economic, energy, and diplomatic ties with African countries. Named after Enrico Mattei, founder of ENI, the plan shifts from traditional aid to partnership-based investment in key sectors such as energy, infrastructure, and education, with the involvement of institutions like the African Development Bank and the European Union.
“With today’s agreements with Ethiopia and Algeria, part of the Mattei Plan,” explained Matteo Zoppas, President of ITA – Italian Trade Agency, “we strengthen the model of technology centres as instruments of growth diplomacy — places where Italian training, know-how, and technology become tools for shared development, benefiting both our exports and local African communities.”
“These agreements confirm Marmomac as a leading diplomatic and economic platform, where marble becomes a vehicle for dialogue between countries and a driver of business development,” added Federico Bricolo, President of Veronafiere.
