Moroccan-born entrepreneur Abderrahim Naji was honored in Rome on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, for an audiovisual work about initiatives led by Italian companies in Africa. According to matching reports published in Morocco and Italy, the ceremony took place at the Teatro Sistina during Alice nella città, within the wider framework of the Rome Film Festival.
Naji received the Piano Mattei Africa Prize, a special mention within the Visioni Made in Italy program. His work was recognized in the “Grandi Imprese” category. Available reporting says it addresses innovation, sustainability, skills development, and the local economic and social impact generated by the business initiatives represented in the audiovisual production.
A program linking audiovisual storytelling and internationalization
Visioni Made in Italy is promoted by SIMEST, a Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Group company, in partnership with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. The project presents cinema as a tool for economic and cultural diplomacy and for the international promotion of Italian expertise, giving the competition an institutional purpose beyond artistic recognition alone.
Within this framework, the Piano Mattei Africa Prize is a special mention for the work that best expresses international impact and presents Africa as a continent offering opportunities for growth. That definition comes from SIMEST’s official call, published before the ceremony. The call establishes the competition framework, while later reports identify Naji as the recipient.
A selection based on multiple criteria
Thirty finalists were chosen from a pool described as either about or more than 100 applications, with a slight difference in wording between the published accounts. Assessment dimensions included creative excellence, innovation, internationalization, social and environmental impact, supply-chain integration, and the involvement of young people and women in the initiatives represented by the submitted works.
The jury was chaired by actor and director Alessandro Preziosi and included audiovisual specialists alongside representatives from business and institutions. That range of expertise reflects the program’s combined focus: judging the audiovisual dimension of each entry while also considering how the works communicate economic activities, international reach, sustainability, skills, and local impact.
What remains unknown about Naji’s work
The reviewed sources do not provide the title or running time of Naji’s audiovisual work. They also give no production credits, list of participating companies, filming locations, or public viewing link. On the verified information currently available, it is therefore not possible to provide a scene-by-scene account or a more detailed description of its production.
The confirmed scope is narrower: the work concerns initiatives undertaken by Italian companies in Africa and explores innovation, sustainability, skills development, and local economic and social impact. Further claims about particular businesses, territories, interviewees, or narratives would require additional official information or public access to the work and cannot be inferred from the award announcement alone.
A distribution plan that remains prospective
The award-winning documentaries are intended to be promoted through a permanent digital platform, Italian embassies and cultural institutes, and national television programming. This is a stated future distribution plan, not confirmation that such distribution had already begun. As of October 23, 2026, the reviewed reporting does not establish that Naji’s work was publicly available through any of those channels.
Attendees at the ceremony included Cassa Depositi e Prestiti president Giovanni Gorno Tempini and SIMEST president Vittorio de Pedys, together with economic, diplomatic, political, and cultural representatives. Their attendance was consistent with the program’s stated institutional mission of combining audiovisual production, economic and cultural diplomacy, and international promotion of Italian business expertise.
An entrepreneurial path previously recognized in Italy
The Rome prize follows a documented distinction from 2015. On June 25 of that year, Naji was named Italy’s Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year at the seventh MoneyGram Award. This earlier recognition provides context for the 2026 honor, but it does not establish his current corporate title, responsibilities, ownership position, or the present scale of any company.
In 2015, La Stampa reported that CS Stampi, the company associated with Naji, worked in plastic-material molding and mold construction. The newspaper said he had acquired the company after spending ten years there as an employee. These details describe a historical stage in his career and should not be treated as a current profile of the business.
Following the Rome ceremony, Naji described the award in remarks to MAP as a source of Moroccan pride, recognition of entrepreneurial excellence, and a sign of ties between Morocco and Italy. He also referred to his experience of creating a company and contributing to industrial development in Italy while maintaining his attachment to Morocco.
