Africa nations cry for attention

Hokkaido: African nations, facing the brunt of steep oil and food prices, are unlikely to attract much attention at the meeting of the Group of Eight industrialised nations here.

Seven leaders from Africa are attending the summit. But with an agenda crammed with issues ranging from global warming, economic slowdown to nuclear non-proliferation, African states may get the short shrift, observers said.

"Africa may get shoved to the back burner because Japan may be satisfied with what was achieved at TICAD IV," said Sayaka Funada- Classen, an associate professor at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.

He was referring to the Tokyo International Conference on African Development last May, when Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda unveiled an aid package.