The Challenge for Confindustria Naples Leadership Begins
Naples, 30 January – The deadline for submitting self-candidacies for the presidency of the Industrialists’ Union of Naples closed yesterday at 11:59 PM. The challenge to succeed Costanzo Jannotti Pecci, who led the association of Palazzo Partanna for the past four years, will be between current Vice President Vittorio Genna and former national head of Confitarma, Mario Mattioli.
Both Genna and Mattioli are significant figures in the Neapolitan entrepreneurial landscape, promising an engaging contest for the leadership of Confindustria Naples.
Vittorio Genna: The Incumbent’s Advantage
Vittorio Genna, an engineer and co-founder of Ala spa, an integrated logistics company for aerospace and defense, currently serves as Vice President of its board of directors. He is also Vice President of Gafi (Garanzia Fidi Società Cooperativa per Azioni) and has been a Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic since 2018. Genna joined the General Council of the Union in 2021 and became Vice President in 2022, with responsibilities including Infrastructure, Logistics, Transport, Maritime Economy, Territorial Competitiveness, Implementation of the Single ZES, and Industrial Development Areas.
Sources within Palazzo Partanna suggest that Genna “embodies and represents the will of the majority of the association.” He is believed to have had ample time to prepare his candidacy and is currently seen as having a clear advantage among the 87 company leaders who will decide the new leader in mid-March. His electoral base primarily consists of small and medium-sized enterprises and young entrepreneurs.
Mario Mattioli: A Formidable Challenger
Mario Mattioli, however, is not one to be easily deterred. The former national leader of Confitarma and current head of the Federation of the Sea, which represents the entire Italian blue economy cluster, has been actively building alliances and presenting his program for weeks. A graduate in Economics from Federico II, Mattioli leads the Cafima group, a shipping company with a long-standing tradition. He is also a member of the Committee of the Britannia Steamship Insurance Association Limited UK and the honorary consul general of the Kingdom of Thailand in Naples and Southern Italy.
Mattioli previously served as Vice President of the Industrialists’ Union in 2016 under Ambrogio Prezioso. It is rumored that several past presidents, including Gianni Lettieri, Vito Grassi, and Paolo Scudieri, support his candidacy. Mattioli’s campaign is expected to focus on cohesion and inclusion, with a stated aim to bring back “many (important) entrepreneurs who have distanced themselves from the association over time.” The current president, Jannotti Pecci, who is the national Confindustria delegate for ports, along with some close vice presidents, is also reportedly inclined to support Mattioli. Several large groups, public participation entities, and even, it is whispered, construction companies, have openly sided with Mattioli through letters of support.
The Active Role of Politics
The swift action of some institution-controlled entities suggests that politics will play an active role in this election. There are even rumors of high-level endorsements, with some speculating about “return slaps” linked to other prominent events.
Election Timeline and Procedures
The bureaucratic process for the election has now commenced. To be eligible, candidates must secure at least 10% of the assembly votes. Both factions claim to have comfortably surpassed this threshold. The association’s structure will now verify these claims. Following this, the “wise men” phase will begin. The designation commission, composed of Nicola Arnone, Giulia Giannini, and Marco Montefusco (working closely with the probiviri: Chicco Ceceri, Massimo Villa, and Silvio De Simone), will presumably consult the base throughout February.
According to the statutes, the wise men are tasked with ensuring cohesion and defining consensus among the aspiring leaders. They will determine whether one, both, or neither candidate has surpassed the 20% threshold of assembly votes in this second step, which is necessary to proceed to the General Council in March. This body will ultimately name the new president.
The Search for the ‘D’ Factor
Many evoke the name of Antonio D’Amato, the former national and Neapolitan leader, who is also a major shareholder of the Union. For now, he does not appear to be overly involved in the ongoing race. While not hostile to Genna, he reportedly has an excellent relationship with Mattioli, with whom he is said to have spoken recently. The outcome remains to be seen, as the challenge has just begun.
