AFRICAN leaders visiting the United States for talks or negotiations have been advised to go via the African-American community before meeting with officials of that country.

Former Mayor of Atlanta, Andrew Young who gave the advice on Wednesday in Abuja, while speaking on the 6th Sullivan Summit scheduled to hold in the Federal Capital Territory from July 14 to July 20, said such visits would enable African leaders exchange and share information and ideas with the black community.

This, he said, would better equip them for meetings and negotiations with the U.S. officials in Washington.

Young, who is a former Permanent Representative of the U.S. in the United Nations, also said that during such meetings "We can tell them who to talk to. President Bush will hear them much more clearly if they come through us before talking with him". He recalled that a similar advice was given before, although "African leaders still come to the U.S. and not come to the black community".

Young observed that the Jewish community in the U.S. had been exerting such influence on Israeli officials as they move from Miami, Los Angeles, Atlanta to Chicago before going to Washington for talks.

"The essence of going through these cities is that such officials "get the power of the Jewish community organised behind them," he said.

He expressed the hope that someday, the black in the U.S. would hold similar discussions with African leaders, saying that is the reason they understand how their system works and are in a better position to know how to get things done.

Young, who is the chairman of the Summit, said the event would be a gathering of personalities including President George Bush, American congressional black caucus, black mayors of American cities, corporations that do business in Africa and 20 important African leaders.

The summit, he said, would provide opportunity for all the parties that could open up the economy of Africa to "know one another and trust one another".

According to him, "not only is our (black Americans') destiny tied to America and Africa, but indeed, the destiny of the world depends on how we come together".

He described Africa as the "missing link in global economy," saying that the problem would not be solved until the continent found itself in the mainstream of world's economy.

"I believe Africa has the answer to the world's problem. We will talk about things we can learn from one another. As we go back and forth and we get to know one another better, we will get to benefit together," he said.

The Summit organised by Sullivan Foundation, is an outgrowth of the late Rev. Leon Sullivan, a black activist who tried to build economic bridges between blacks in the U.S. and their African brothers.

Before he died two years ago, he organised and held similar summits in Abidjan, Dakar, Libreville, Harare and Accra.

Former Nigerian Ambassador to the U.S., Prof. Jibril Aminu now a senator, also recently underlined the inestimable contributions of Black America to Africa's development, especially Washington's policies of the continent.