Leaders arriving in Abuja for NEPAD meeting

Leaders of 20 African countries began arriving in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on Monday for a two-day meeting to discuss continental priorities in the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), officials said. The Nigerian NEPAD secretariat in Abuja said the meeting would consider project and programme priorities under the fast-track development initiative being worked out with the international community. "These include peace and security, agriculture and market access, capital flows, economic and corporate governance, infrastructure and human development," James Atusue, a senior official in Nigeria's NEPAD secretariat, said. Plans drawn up by a pre-summit committee, he added, aimed to match the aims of NEPAD with a pragmatic plan of action. Countries whose leaders are expected at the summit are Algeria, Botswana, Cameroon, Congo Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia and Zambia. Others listed, as observers are Ghana, Sao Tome e Principe, Tanzania and Uganda. South African President Thabo Mbeki arrived in Nigeria on Saturday for pre-summit consultations with his Nigerian counterpart, Olusegun Obasanjo. The two leaders, along with Algeria's Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Senegal's Abdoulaye Wade are the key initiators of NEPAD. Nigerian officials said the leaders considered the articulation of African priorities of utmost importance ahead of the meeting of the June meeting of G8 industrial nations in Canada. The leading industrial countries are expected to unveil the extent of their commitment to the NEPAD initiative at the meeting. Close on the heels of the Abuja meeting, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien is scheduled to visit Abuja on 5 April for talks with six African leaders, the Nigerian presidency announced on Monday. No further details of the meeting were disclosed.