Africa presses for debt relief
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South African President Thabo Mbeki has angrily criticised the world’s leading industrial nations for not taking debt relief for impoverished African countries seriously enough. He said he would travel to Japan with the Nigerian and Algerian presidents to put pressure on G8 leaders at their summit in Okinawa in July. Our correspondent reports that Mr Mbeki appears to be having difficulties breaking into the official agenda at this stage. President Mbeki’s impassioned statement came at the end of the annual World Economic Forum Africa summit in Durban and followed angry calls from many of the hundreds of government and business leaders attending the summit for action on African debt relief. Mr Mbeki and other African leaders want debt relief of around $100bn across the continent to free up money for the battle against Aids, other major diseases and poverty. More : bbc.co.uk |