The steel superstructure of the Joint-Africa Pavilion has been completed and work on the facade has been started, the organizer announced yesterday (June 18).

The organizer met African representatives yesterday in Accra, the capital city of Ghana to discuss the construction of the pavilion, which will house the exhibition of 42 countries and the African Union.

The 26,000-square-meter pavilion is the largest of the 11 joint pavilions at the Expo, and each African participant will secure 250 square meters for exhibition. Construction started on the pavilion in August last year.

The facade of the pavilion will include a huge sponge tree symbolizing the origin of human life. There will be a public area to give an overall impression of Africa inside the pavilion.

All participants in the pavilion have signed participation contracts with the organizer and selected their service suppliers, said Chen Jintian, director of the Joint-Africa Pavilion Management Department of the Expo Bureau.

He noted that the Expo provided a rare opportunity for Chinese visitors to explore a "real, beautiful, unique and united" Africa and the organizer is more than willing to work with African participants together towards this goal.

Chen and other organizers also elaborated on the Expo's performance plans.

The organizer signed a participation assistance agreement with Ghana at the conference and Gambia, which confirmed its participation in June, signed its participation contract.

China will provide developing countries with up to US$100 million in assistance for them to attend the 2010 Expo and most African countries will receive the assistance.