and-a-half-years and within that period I've seen the departure of 49 of Africa's 53 trade ministers," Kituyi said. Africa's varied economic fortunes and the obstacles in increasing intra African trade to be on a par with regional trading agreements with the West were also high on the agenda. African ministers conferring on the sidelines of the meeting were pessimistic about any real progress before the WTO deadline. WTO boss Pascal Lamy reportedly jetted into the east African nation late Friday after the meeting had already adjourned. --SP 21 09 Local Time 18 09 GMT
