State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Frank Belfrage will take part in the ministerial meeting between the Nordic countries and eleven African countries due to take place on 15 16 June in Tavastehus, Finland.
At the meeting, ministers will discuss the Nordic welfare model, Africa s growth and other current issues in the relevant neighbourhoods.
Mr Belfrage will be joined by ministers from Benin, Botswana, Denmark, Ghana, Iceland, Lesotho, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Norway, Senegal, South Africa, Sweden and Tanzania. The meeting will be hosted by Finland s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Erkki Tuomioja.
This year s informal Nordic-African ministerial meeting will be the twelfth of its kind. Responsibility for hosting the meeting has alternated each year between an African country and a Nordic country.
Recently, the activities of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs in relation to Africa have intensified. Several ministers and state secretaries have visited various parts of Africa and a number of African delegations have also come to Sweden. In May, five Swedish ministers the foreign affairs, international development cooperation, trade, democracy and finance ministers visited several African countries.
