TOKYO, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Africa needs more help in infrastructure construction and education, where Japan can provide support and aid, a senior World Bank official said here Friday.

    Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili, the World Bank's vice president for Africa, told a press conference in Tokyo that lack of infrastructure greatly hinders the continent's development and she hopes Japan may give more support in this area, as well as in information technology, science and education.

    "Education, that is definitely something that Japan can hold out to the continent of Africa", said Ezekwesili, a former education minister of Nigeria, noting that Japan has achieved success in developing into the world's second largest economy.

    Ezekwesili said at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan that the poor infrastructure in many African countries has been a major development obstacle. According to the World Bank, poor infrastructure erodes African competitiveness as much as 30 percent, with power outages, transportation delays being bottlenecks.

    Ezekwesili also listed several success stories in Africa where countries greatly improved residents' access to water and telecommunication. She also expressed hope that Japan will successfully host an international conference on African development in May next year.

    The Tokyo International Conference on African Development will be co-hosted by the United Nations, the World Bank and other organizations. The conference, to be held in Yokohama, southwest of Tokyo, on May 28-30, is scheduled to focus on Africa's development, peace-keeping, environment, climate change and other issues.