"This summit will mark another climax of co-operation on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the China-African diplomatic relationship," said Nolana Ta-ama, Togo's ambassador to China.

The Beijing Summit will be the most important event in the history of Africa-China relations, further consolidating co-operation and common development, he said.

WB: Africa has made tangible economic progress

NAIROBI: Africa has shown tangible progress in the effort to uplift millions of people out of poverty, the World Bank said yesterday.

The bank's annual study of the continent found that 16 states had managed to maintain annual economic growth of more than 4.5 per cent since the 1990s.

The report said many countries, including Senegal, Mozambique, Cameroon, Uganda, Ghana and Cape Verde, have lifted significant percentages of their citizens above the poverty line and might well be on course to meeting the Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2010.

The annual publication, African Development Indicators 2006, depicts a diverse continent, with several countries making remarkable progress. "Africa today is a continent on the move, making tangible progress on delivering better health, education, growth, trade and poverty-reduction outcomes," said Gobind Nankani, the bank's vice-president for the Africa region.

Gross primary enrolment rates as a share of the relevant age group a standard indicator of investment in the poor shot up to 93 per cent in 2004 from 72 per cent in 1990, contributing to a rise in literacy rates from 50 per cent in 1997 to 65 per cent in 2002, said John Page, the bank's chief economist.

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