Mori on Africa tour

The Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshiro Mori, has received a warm welcome in South Africa at the start of a tour of sub-Saharan Africa -- the first by a serving prime minister in Japan.

Mr Mori, who is accompanied by a 200-strong delegation, is expected to promote trade with Africa, discuss a $15 billion Japanese offer of information technology assistance and seek African support for a Japanese bid to gain a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Japan is already the second largest aid donor to Africa.

On Tuesday Mr Mori is due to hold talks with the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, and to deliver a speech on Japan's policy on Africa, before going on to Kenya and Nigeria. The Japanese Foreign Minister, Yohei Kono, has meanwhile left Tokyo for a tour of a number of countries in the Middle East followed by a visit to Russia.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service