This report has been produced in association with the documentation work required for a new publication entitled African International Organization Directory, and African participation in other international organizations (1984). This work resulted in statistics in addition to those normally available in the Yearbook of International Organizations, from which the above publication was developed.

The purpose of this report is to demonstrate, on the basis of available information, the extent of development of African international organization and of African participation in other international organizations. It is not the main purpose of this report to interpret this information or to draw conclusions based on comparison with other continents.

The report is divided into four parts in order to facilitate access to the range of information which can be used to assess the involvement of African countries in international organization:

• Part I focuses on the African continent as a whole, and in comparison with other continents;
• Part 11 focuses on individual African countries, with some comparison with countries in other continents;
• Part III focuses on individual African cities, with some comparison with cities in other continents;
• Part IV focuses on the individual African organizations from which the totals in the other Parts are derived. Reference is made to seven annexes in which the organizations are listed in various ways.