David Cameron has arrived in Johannesburg for the start of a trip to bolster Britain's business links with Africa's fastest growing economies.
On his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa, he said trade not aid would lift millions out of poverty.The prime minister is also set to highlight trade's importance for securing deals to help the UK economy.
It is understood that the trip has been cut back so he could return to the UK to deal with the on-going hacking row.
The BBC's deputy political editor James Landale said initially the trip had been pencilled in for five days rather than the two, limiting it to South Africa and Nigeria.
He said another overseas visit may have been seen as risky for a prime minister who only 12 days ago was in Afghanistan when the phone hacking row broke.
Mr Cameron is under pressure over his decision to employ former News of the World editor Andy Coulson as his press spokesman.
Mr Coulson, who has since left Number 10, has been arrested as part of an inquiry into allegations journalists at the newspaper illegally hacked into mobile phone messages.
Some MPs believe Mr Cameron's trip to Africa - as the phone hacking scandal continues to unfold in the UK - could leave him vulnerable.
But Number 10 said the trip had been shortened "simply because the prime minister has other things he wants to be focused on".
'Fresh thinking' During the trip, Mr Cameron will give strong backing to plans for a 26-nation African free trade area intended to cover 600 million people and more than half the area of the continent within three years.
ANALYSIS
Real differences exist between Britain and South Africa over the handling of the Libyan civil war.President Jacob Zuma has become increasingly critical of the military effort against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
He is leading the stalled African Union mediation efforts to end the conflict.
He has faced criticism at home for supporting the UN resolution calling for protection of Libyan civilians, which triggered the international military support for the rebels.
Mr Zuma blames Nato for overstepping the resolution.
But this has not prevented attacks by the fiery leader of his party's Youth League, Julius Malema, who led a rally against imperialism outside the American embassy earlier this month.
Mr Malema told his supporters that South Africa should have foreseen how the resolution would be used, and should not have voted for it.
These pressures have been felt by President Zuma, who is seeking his party's re-election next year.
It leaves little room for compromise over the issue during his discussions with David Cameron.
He will say an African free trade area could increase the continent's GDP by £38 billion ($62 billion) - £12 billion ($20 billion) more than the world's entire annual aid budget for sub-Saharan Africa.
Writing in South Africa's Business Day, Mr Cameron said: "In the past, there were marches in the West to drop the debt. There were concerts to increase aid."And it was right that the world responded.
"But they have never once had a march or a concert to call for what will in the long term save far more lives and do far more good - an African free trade area. The key to Africa's progress is not just aid. It is time for some fresh thinking."
The BBC's Africa editor Martin Plaut said Mr Cameron's visit was likely to highlight differences with South Africa over the war in Libya.
President Jacob Zuma has become increasingly critical of the military effort against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
This week's trip is the latest in a series of trade missions which have seen Mr Cameron visit China and India and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg go to Mexico and Brazil, in a government push to deepen UK links with the emerging economies expected to act as the drivers of global growth over the coming years.
Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell, trade and investment minister Lord Green and a business delegation comprising 25 representatives from a range of blue chip companies, private equity firms and small businesses are accompanying the prime minister.
Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond, Premier League communications director Bill Bush and senior executives from Waitrose and Vodafone are also on the trip.
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