Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi is in London to attend the third meeting of the Commission for Africa, which will take place on Thursday 24^th February. The Prime Minister arrived in the United Kingdom earlier today and went straight to the Ethiopian Embassy in London, where he was greeted by HE Ambassador Fisseha Adugna and held a series of meetings with a think-tank and members of the Ethiopian community.

The Commission for Africa will meet for the third and last time at Lancaster House, before its report is published in March and used to inform the UK’s agenda for its 2005 G8 and EU Presidencies.

Members of the Commission will today also meet with private sector leaders from the G8 and Africa to discuss how business can help efforts to boost Africa’s economies and tackle poverty.

The meeting at the Shell Centre in London, hosted by Shell UK Chair James Smith, follows a programme of consultations between the Commission and the private sector in Africa, Europe and North America. Commissioners and business representatives will discuss conclusions emerging from the report in the run up to the Gleneagles G8 Summit in July.

Commissioner William Kalema, chairman of the Board of the Uganda Investment Authority, said:

 
“The message from business has been clear: encouraging the entrepreneurial spirit of Africa’s people is central to growth and poverty reduction. This means getting the investment climate right, particularly for small businesses – the largest source of jobs and wealth creation.”

 
“The business community has been very clear that its outlook for Africa is a positive one: it believes Africa is the next frontier for investment, while at the same time recognising the importance of investors being good corporate citizens.”

Last July, business leaders were invited by UK Chancellor Gordon Brown to make formal recommendations to the Commission on a range of issues, including how Africa might boost trade, improve infrastructure, create a better investment climate and tackle problems such as HIV/AIDS. They underlined the importance of the G8 and EU supporting Africa by implementing existing commitments on trade reform, debt relief and UN targets on aid. Over 120 African business leaders from 19 countries participated in the work, alongside 50 international companies from Europe and the United States.