150 On October 21st in Paris, some 30 representatives of the French business community met with Jamal Saghir, World Bank Director of Sustainable Development in the Africa Region, for an update on World Bank priorities within the infrastructure sectors in Africa as well as the Bank's contribution to the ongoing B20 dialogue. The meeting was chaired by Patrice Fonlladosa, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Veolia Environment. The overall high economic growth of African countries gave an interesting starting point for a discussion that covered topics such as good governance, increased south-south cooperation and the growing and complementary role of foundations and the private sector in development financing. One of the concrete examples, where the private sector could play a more important role, given by the World Bank Director, was the need for additional financial support for project preparation required especially for large projects such as major energy and infrastructure projects. Other topics, especially relevant for Africa, concerned the strong linkages between the food crisis and climate change. The organizer of the event, PSLO for France, Mr. Philippe Gautier, based at MEDEF, gave an overview of the preparation of the upcoming B20 business summit organized by MEDEF as part of the G20 Summit in Cannes beginning of November. Extensive international business community consultations have been carried out to provide G20 Heads of State and Government with concrete “100% Entrepreneur driven” recommendations, creating a clear interaction between the G20 and B20. The active involvement of the private sector in the development debate was encouraged and welcomed by Jamal Saghir.