ROME -- Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi's latest visit to Africa has given rise to a number of new developments, the latest a series of accords signed by Italian oil and gas company ENI and the Ghanaian government.

 "For us Africa is a great opportunity in terms of the development cooperation that we are strengthening as well as in terms of investment. Here in Ghana ENI has signed agreements lasting until 2036 and for our agribusiness sector this is an important development," said Renzi, speaking in front of the Ghanaian parliament.

 This is in addition to the signing of a cooperation memorandum against human trafficking in Nigeria on Monday. On his visit to the country, Renzi brought with him the Italian head of police Alessandro Pansa, who signed the agreement along with his Nigerian counterpart. It detailed both a collaborative fight against human trafficking as well as a promise of support from the Nigerian authorities in the repatriation of Nigerian migrants without the right to stay in Italy.

 The latest developments come at a tense time for Nigeria, which is still hit frequently by Boko Haram attacks. AGIP oil pipelines in the country were hit by multiple explosions on Thursday and Friday last week, causing thousands of barrels of oil to pollute waterways, farms and fishing grounds and leading to the loss of 16,000 barrels of oil per day, according to an ENI spokesman.

 The spill is “massive – the biggest in years,” community leader Eke-Spiff Erempagamo told The Associated Press. Residents blamed the explosions on militants who want the polluted oil producing states to get a bigger share of revenues.

 Nigerians continue to seek out a better life in Europe, braving often treacherous land and sea journeys to Italian shores. However, despite the dangers faced in their home country, in the first half of 2015 more than 70 percent of Nigerians arriving in Italy by sea were rejected on their first asylum claim, according to professor of immigration and asylum law Fulvio Vassallo Paleologo.

 "Most immigrants who arrive in Italy by boat are from Nigeria," Renzi wrote on his Facebook page after leaving Abuja, Nigeria, for Ghana. "To the kind souls who say 'let's help them in their own homelands' I say this what we're trying to do - but we do it by maintaining our sense of humanity, our values, our ideals: this is Italy's vocation."