GATT MEETING HEARS PLEA FOR AFRICAN DEBT RELIEF Debt among African countries will continue to grow and their economies will remain stifled unless developed countries lower their interest rates, Nigerian Trade Minister Samaila Mamman said today. He told an informal meeting of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade the widening gap between industrialized and developing countries and an unfair international economic system were major obstacles to growth in developing countries. "I wish to emphasize that the growth in the volume of the external indebtedness of African countries reflects the full effect of the deflationary monetary and trade policies of the developed market economy countries," Mamman said. Delegates from 23 countries are attending the talks of the world trade body in the New Zealand resort of Taupo.