Bono to lobby for Africa at EU summit

U2 LEAD singer Bono is to address EU ministers meeting in Dublin next week.

Bono will focus on Africa, a cause he has long espoused. He is set to speak to ministers about how the EU can reform development aid and make more effective investments.

All 25 EU states will be represented at the informal meeting in Dublin Castle on June 1, where ministers will consider EU development policy and discuss possible reforms.

They will also address the humanitarian situation in Darfur, Sudan where militias have been accused of genocide and discuss African debt and trade.

Bono has frequently used his celebrity status to highlight the crises of poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa and to gain access to the world's most powerful decision-makers.

In 2002 he joined forces with Bob Geldof to set up DATA (Debt, Aids, Trade, Africa), a network aimed at lobbying rich governments to increase resources and improve their policies towards African countries.

He has also supported the international Jubilee 2000 Drop The Debt campaign, meeting international politicians, the IMF and the World Bank.

In 1999, he went to Rome to meet Pope John Paul II in order to persuade the Group of Eight richest nations G8 to launch a major debt write-off for world's poorest countries who were saddled with heavy repayments.

A spokesman from the Government said he hoped the star would add a "bit of sparkle and showbiz" to the ministerial conference.