14 Heads of African countries to meet here for two-day Summmit

New Delhi, Mar 11 (UNI) Heads of State from 14 African countries will meet here on April 8-9 for a two-day India-Africa Summmit to explore ways for strengthening ties between India and the African continent, focussing on sharing of technology and expertise in the areas of education and human resource development.

Minister of State for External Afffairs Anand Sharma, while making the announcement at a function here, said the summit would help ''crystallize'' the partnership and open new avenues of cooperation between the two sides and also help the ''pace and spirit'' of the ties to gather momentum.

The countries which are likely to be represented during the two-day Summmit are South Africa, Uganda, Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Libya, Senegal, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia.

The Minister said the government had sent a draft action plan to the participating countries.

The Summit will be preceded by a meeting of their Foreign Ministers Senior on April 7 and senuior officdials on April 4.

The summit will be also attended by heads of sub-regional groupings including Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS).

UNI RB RR KN1921