Rampersad: The PGII at the 2024 Apulia Summit – Further Clarity, Further Questions

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The PGII at the 2024 Apulia Summit: Further Clarity, Further Questions

Luca Rampersad, G7 Research Group
June 15, 2024

The launch of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) in 2022 raised as many questions as it answered. The 2024 Apulia Summit provided some clarity, though some important details remain unclear.

The PGII, the G7's flagship global infrastructure development program, was first unveiled at the 2022 Elmau Summit as a rebrand of the "Build Back Better World" initiative introduced the year prior. G7 members and affiliates often cast PGII as their alternative to China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). PGII messaging emphasizes values that align with common G7 member criticisms of BRI, including non-exploitative financing terms and labour protections. It also represents an avenue for outreach to states and institutions beyond the G7. The PGII's support for various regional economic corridors: the Lobito Corridor in Africa, the Middle Corridor and Luzon Corridor in Asia and the India–Middle East–Europe Corridor. It also engenders cooperation between G7 members and strategic state, multilateral and private partners beyond its existing membership. As long as it facilitates these goals, the PGII is an important strategic project for the G7.

On June 13, 2024, the first day of the Apulia Summit, all G7 leaders except the European Council's President Charles Michel, the United Kingdom's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and France's president Emmanuel Macron participated in a side event focused entirely on the PGII for the third year in a row. CoThey were accompanied by private sector representatives and the Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank, and Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, among other stakeholders. Meloni made two major revelations. First, she announced that the Italian government's Mattei Plan for Africa would support the Lobito Corridor alongside the PGII and the European Union's Global Gateway. This announcement accelerates the ongoing coalescence of G7-led institutional structures for infrastructure development. Since Italy's departure from BRI at the end of 2023, there are now no G7 members with an active memorandum of understanding with BRI, with the PGII coordinating national and regional programs across G7 members.

Meloni also announced that the PGII would receive a dedicated secretariat. The eventual existence of a secretariat was mentioned cursorily, with Apulia G7 Leaders' Communiqué saying that it would facilitate "effective implementation and investment coordination with partners." How the secretariat plans to coordinate with its partners, and the extent to which these partners will inform the PGII project implementation process, remains unclear.

It is crucial to platform key stakeholders at all levels of policy making in a meaningful way, from conceptualization through to execution. The G7 must consider the immediate criticism from representatives of African smallholder and family farms after the release of the Apulia Food Systems Initiative, who say they have not received a seat at the negotiating table for an initiative that affects them. This mistake cannot be made twice.

The PGII is a valuable engagement tool between the G7 and its strategic partners, especially in the Global South. However, it will only serve its purpose if the PGII's new secretariat can materially involve key stakeholders and make good on that promise.

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