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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, seen here on November 5,  2006, said the European Union would make African development a priority in 2007 and not leave it up to China, which has just signed massive trade deals with the continent. [AFP]

Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the European Union would make African development a priority in 2007 and not leave it up to China, which has just signed massive trade deals with the continent.

"We cannot leave this up to China alone," Merkel said on the sidelines of a defence forum, referring to 16 agreements worth US$1.9 billion  Beijing inked with 10 African nations at a historic summit last weekend. [Full Text ]

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Merkel said after Berlin takes over the rotating presidency of the EU in January, it would lay the groundwork for a summit grouping African and European leaders.

The summit will however be staged during the second half of 2007 when Portugal holds the presidency of the bloc.

The conservative German chancellor said the EU would focus on African development and "a new partnership" with the continent and not merely hand out aid to poverty-stricken African countries.

"Our involvement must not amount to charity," she said.

Germany is also preparing to table a blueprint on African development at the G8 summit it will host in June in the eastern German resort of Heiligendamm.

It proposes that each member of the Group of Eight, which includes the world's industrialized powers and Russia, signs a partnership agreement with an African state.

The deals that China signed with African leaders include agreements to build an aluminium production plant in Egypt, upgrade a highway in Nigeria and develop a copper project in Zambia.