"The presence of private military companies in Africa worries us," Foreign Minister Antonio Taiani told the newspaper Avvenire. "Due to the jihadist wave in the Sahel, but not only, several African states have requested or accepted the assistance of foreign military companies, which can be paid in cash or in mining concessions. They are mercenaries who come to the aid of governments that are struggling to keep state security. Serious thought is required at the international level to develop codes of conduct governing the phenomenon of private military companies. But above all, we must take constant preventive measures."
The minister continued, saying, "Africa must not become a land of conquest, it is unthinkable to imagine today a new race to that continent as that of inauspicious memory of the nineteenth century. However, in countries such as Sudan, Libya, and the Central African Republic, we have long observed increasing foreign influences that worsen already precarious security and stability conditions. We cannot accept the current state of affairs. I do not believe that the United States is an inexorably endangered actor, but we must certainly ask the European Union to engage more on the continent, especially since it is important to remember that the Union remains the continent's largest donor.”