Reuters–G20 leaders craft crisis response
Reuters writes that world leaders are set to declare an end to unfettered capitalism at the G20 summit today after France and Germany demanded they act fast on promises to prevent a repeat of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. A communique drafted for release at a G20 summit in London signaled that leaders would submit large hedge funds to supervision for the first time and enhance regulation through a new agency and a beefed-up International Monetary Fund. It included a pledge to deliver “the scale of sustained effort necessary to restore growth” without making any commitments beyond the trillions being spent to stabilize banks, shore up demand and limit job losses.

Financial Times—The poor must be included in a global economy (opinion)
Bob Geldof writes in the Financial Times today that the G20 must include Africa as part of an global economic stimulus and financial reform plan. He writes, “It is clear that African growth is part of the solution that reboots the global economy…The G20 should insist that the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations deliver their political promises on aid to help pay for this stimulus.”

NY Times—At Stake Are More Than Banks (opinion)
NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof writes that as the G20 begins, “the most wrenching statistic is this: According to World Bank estimates, the global economic crisis will cause an additional 22 children to die per hour, throughout all of 2009.” He writes that there are many ways the G20 can take action, and provides several concrete examples, but frets that there will instead be more squabbling from world leaders.

AllAfrica.com—U.S.-Nigeria Trade Hits $42.2 Billion
Nigeria is now the 14th largest goods trading partner of the United States with $42.2 billion in two-way goods trade last year. This comes as U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Ron Kirk, during a meeting with the Nigerian Minister of Commerce, stated that Nigeria had taken tremendous steps to improve its business and trade environment in the last year. Information made available by Kirk showed that the current figure of the two-way trade represents an 18 percent increase from 2007.

Financial Times—Ivory Coast qualifies for debt relief
Ivory Coast has qualified for a $3 billion debt relief deal with western donors, clearing the way for a separate agreement with commercial creditors holding the country’s defaulted bonds. The World Bank said in a statement that the West African country would now need to implement a series of economic reforms to complete the debt relief process under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative. Ivory Coast has been in default on the some $3 billion worth of bonds since 2000.

-Steve Wilson