Rava's political career began in 1919, when he was co-founder of the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento (predecessor of the National Fascist Party) in Rome.

[1] Previously he was a lieutenant during World War I (where he was wounded in combat), and received the Medal of Military Valor three times (one Silver and two Bronze).

[2] In those years he gave dynamic impetus to agriculture, roads and railways with emphasis on all types of construction in Somalia.

In 1933 he promoted the urban remodeling of Mogadishu, which since then began to be called "the white pearl of the Indian Ocean" and became populated with a large minority (40% of the total inhabitants) of Italian settlers.

He became politically marginalized in 1938, after Fascist Italy's alliance with Nazi Germany, due to his Jewish background.