JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Dec 1, SPA -- Africa must be given a greater role in the governing of world economies or run the risk of further exploitation, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said Friday. Villepin arrived in the country Thursday after stopping in Chad on an African tour seen as a bid to strengthen France's ties with the continent before a Franco-African summit in Paris next year. «The danger is that Africa is subjected to the mostbrutal changes due to globalization without benefiting from it. This situation is unacceptable,» he said in a speech on French-African relations at the University ofWitwatersrand. «We cannot content ourselves with the position that is given to Africa in globalization. We cannot accept that it is the neglected continent or that it becomes the world's 'gold mine,»' he said. He also stressed the danger globalization poses to the environment, noting that Africa produces the leastpollution and yet has to bear the brunt of the consequences of global warming. «Africa should have the means to protect its wealth and its exceptional heritage,» he was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. Villepin repeated his call for a World Economic Council of heads of states that would be charged with building an approach to help Africa meet its challenges. «Africa is faced with distinctive challenges. It has tooccupy a specific position. Africa should play a greaterrole in the governing of world economies,» he said.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/407709