African finance officials meet
Top African finance officials convened Wednesday in Tunisia for an emergency meeting on the world financial crisis, hoping to voice Africa’s concerns ahead of a G-20 summit later this week.
Leaders of 20 major economies are due to meet in Washington on Saturday to find solutions to the crisis, but South Africa is the only African nation invited.
Jean Ping, the president of the African Union, described Tunisia’s gathering of some 30 African government ministers and heads of national banks as an urgent call to make sure the continent isn’t forgotten as richer nations reconsider the world financial framework.
Ping expressed regret that Africans "weren’t really invited to the summit ... though it will be deciding the world’s future."
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African economies have been somewhat protected from the financial sector meltdown because they are little integrated in world banking. But officials here worry that a recession in the United States and Europe would lessen international aid to the continent and that decreased exports would hurt already weak revenue streams.
