An EU-African summit opening in Brussels today will launch a new initiative to develop trade, democracy and sound economic management in Africa and bring its countries into the global commercial mainstream.
The NAI, which enjoys strong Western support, aims to boost African economies and lay the groundwork for sustainable development in a free-market world where the continent has long been marginalised in terms of trade and growth.
The initiative, adopted by the OAU in Lusaka last July and was praised by Western leaders at the G8 summit in Genoa, Italy, shortly afterward.
AFP