At the turn of the century, leaders of the major world economies promised that the 2000s would be the era of the African.

The majority of Africans, they said, equally suppressed by extreme poverty, corruption, and brutal dictatorships, would see a marked change in their lives.

That vision was premised on the idea that leaders of the global economy -- all of them members of the G-20 countries meeting here -- would help Africa develop itself through direct investment, access to capital and trade markets, and forgiveness of stifling debt.

The pace and promise of that vision, however, has since been stanched by the ongoing global financial crisis, which has put many of the G-20 countries in a tailspin of their own and Africa, once again, left to fend for itself.

A panel of international advocates who met at the University of Pittsburgh yesterday said this G-20 meeting ought to be the starting point for world leaders to recommit themselves to the fundamental principle that Africa can grow and redevelop with a little help.

"It shouldn't be a summit to address only the completion of a global economic stimulus. It should also be about some of the issues that have caused us a lot of disappointment and frustration in Africa," said Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank.

A lack of access to capital, for example, is a major issue holding Africa back, said Mr. Kaberuka, notwithstanding the fast-paced economic development of countries like Rwanda, Mali, Ghana and Botswana in recent years.

And in an era of increasing globalization, Mr. Kaberuka and others added, there is a sense that the problems of Africa are being left out of the dialogue as world leaders focus on resuscitating the global economy.

"This financial crisis in the United States is about banks and mortgages. But in poor countries, it is also about undernourished babies and children left to fend for themselves on the street," said Nancy Birdsall, president of the Center for Global Development, a Washington-based think tank that is dedicated to fighting global poverty.

That is why this G-20 ought to build upon its commitment from the London summit in April, when the world leaders agreed to deliver more than $1 trillion in resources to developing countries, said Tim Adams, a former undersecretary for international affairs at the U.S. Department of Treasury.

In July, at the G-8 summit in Italy, world leaders agreed to raise $20 billion in agriculture aid to help the poorest countries, particularly in Africa, feed themselves by enhancing their farming capacity.

"International development isn't on the G-20 agenda, but the agenda itself is very important to the developing world," Mr. Adams said.

A rejuvenated global economy will ultimately boost the African economy, he added, but G-20 and African leaders have to lay the groundwork for development.

For David Lane, the president of the international advocacy group the ONE Campaign, which is committed to fighting extreme global poverty and disease, tackling the problems of Africa should start with the premise that Africa can be part of the solution to the global financial crisis.

"There are pragmatic reasons for the leaders of the world gathered here to include Africa in the dialogue," said Mr. Lane.

For example, Africa can be a key economic player because it has almost 1 billion producers and consumers of goods and services, he said.

"People are so used to seeing the hardships of Africa that they often don't consider the positive things happening there," said Mr. Lane.

His organization, which was co-founded by U2 lead singer Bono in 2004, is calling on the G-20 to hold an upcoming summit in Africa as "a first step in showing that Africa is part of the solution to our global problems."

But the problems of Africa often confound the world, said Louis Picard, a professor of international development at the Pitt's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.

Dr. Picard moderated the panel, which touched on issues of the devastating effects of climate change in Africa, good governance and the efficacy of organizations like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

In Southern Sudan, for example, some 13 million people -- 86 percent of whom are illiterate -- live in absolute poverty with no clear vision of how they can pull themselves out as they go about a process of trying to establish a break-away sovereign state, he said.

"Why should the people of Flint, Mich., where they have a jobless rate of 20 to 25 percent, care about Africa?" asked Dr. Picard.

Because, "there is a moral argument that Americans should care about people who have no food to eat or have to sell themselves to survive," said Mr. Lane.