President Jacob Zuma will lead a South African delegation to the Group of Eight (G8) Summit in Italy, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation said on Monday.

The G8's Africa Outreach session would also be attended by the other countries that initiated the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad), Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal and Libya, which is chair of the African Union, said department spokesperson Nomfanelo Kota in a statement.

Delegations would also be sent by Ethiopia, which chairs Nepad's Heads of State and government implementation committee, the AU Commission and Angola.

Matters on the agenda include the effect of the global financial and economic crisis on Africa, climate change, the strengthening of north-south relations, implementation of previous commitments agreed to by the G8 and the development agenda.

Kota said there would also probably be talks about strengthening peace and security in Africa, piracy, trafficking of drugs and arms, illegal fishing and money laundering.

Zuma and International Relations and Cooperation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane would return to South Africa on Friday.