20100614
africanews

The Canadian government has invited seven African leaders to attend a special session at the G8 Summit, according to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. They include Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa alongside Haiti, Jamaica and Colombia.

"We will be engaging African leaders as well as key hemispheric partners in order to broaden representation and maximize results on international development and peace and security issues," Harper said in a statement on Sunday.

The G8 meeting of major industrialized countries will be held June 25-26 in the resort community of Huntsville, Ontario. It will be immediately followed by a meeting in Toronto of the Group of 20, which includes the G8 as well as major emerging nations such as China and India.

Canada sees this as one of the opportunity for African states to get involved in the G8 mission.