Exploiting the momentum of a star-studded global anti-poverty campaign, Africa's leaders prepared yesterday to step up pressure on rich nations to help them fight hunger, disease and war.
Leaders of many of the 53 member nations of the African Union (AU) arrived for a summit in Libya to agree on a message to send to the summit of the Group of Eight (G8) richest nations in Scotland later this week.
Kenya's foreign minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere said the G8's decision last month to wipe out a sizeable chunk of debt to the world's poorest nations did not go far enough.
"They've got to get the message that the debt burden for the entire continent needs to be lifted.
"Solving the problem halfway does not remove the problem," he said ahead of the summit today and tomorrow in the Libyan town of Sirte.
The G8 summit on Wednesday and Thursday will be chaired by British prime minister Tony Blairwho has put Africa at the top of the agenda.
Anti-poverty campaigners say the G8 leaders have a unique chance to stop 30,000 children dying every day due to extreme poverty by doubling aid to poor countries, especially in Africa.
African leaders are expected to call for unconditional cancellation of all debt to the poorest African countries and the dismantling of trade barriers which prevent them getting access to rich country markets, analysts say.
The likely emphasis on trade rather than aid is consistent with the stated goals of the AU, a three-year-old continental initiative that plans to wean Africa off aid and push it into the globalised mainstream of international trade and investment.
"The challenge is to reciprocate these G8 moves with sound governance and fighting corruption, to show that we are true partners in development and are able to take on our responsibilities and discharge them effectively," Alcinda Abreu, Mozambique's foreign minister said.
Zambian foreign minister Ronnie Shikapwasha said his country already had plans on how to spend the gains of debt relief - from increasing the provision of life-prolonging drugs for HIV/Aids patients to employing several thousand new teachers.
The continent's wars will also be discussed and the leaders are expected to call for increased Western funding of AU peace missions, particularly a small force of less than 3,000 troops and monitors who are trying to stabilise Sudan's troubled Darfur region.
Foreign ministers held a preparatory meeting on Saturday to try to forge a consensus African position on the expansion of the UN Security Council.