DAR ES SALAAM International Monetary Fund and World Bank heads ended a three-day summit with 11 African leaders on Saturday, pledging to lecture less and listen more in their dealings with the continent.

World Bank President James Wolfensohn also promised to push for an opening of Western markets for African goods, saying an improvement of the continent's export base was crucial to ensuring steady growth and reducing poverty.

"Unless you link overseas development assistance to opening up of (Western) markets, you will be kidding yourselves if you think that you are going to be effective," he told a news conference after the summit had ended.

"You can't limit goods to domestic or even regional markets, you must sell elsewhere. IMF Managing Director Horst Kohler and I have agreed to be Africa's advocates for this."

African leaders at the summit, held in the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam, had earlier called on the IMF and the World Bank to help lift Africa out of the economic mire by better integrating the continent into the global community.

"The African leaders spoke about clear, concrete and practical ways to help the continent improve its performance and interact better within the global community," Zimbabwean Finance Minister Simba Makoni told Reuters.

Host Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa has been joined by the presidents of Botswana, Eritrea, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the prime minister of Ethiopia at the summit with Wolfensohn and Kohler.

Wolfensohn said he and Kohler were committed to helping accelerate debt relief to Africa, but urged Africans to understand that debt forgiveness alone was not a cure for the many problems that have afflicted the continent.

Debt is often listed by African governments as a major impediment to economic expansion.

African economies are generally growing at just four percent, compared to a level of 7-8 percent the World Bank says should be attained and sustained for at least a decade to effectively start dealing with the question of rampant poverty.

Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa said regional leaders had recognized the need to promote good governance and peace to create a climate conducive for investment and economic well-being, but called for more understanding from donors.

World Bank officials said they were gratified that the leaders had made the fight against aids among their top priorities.

In many countries in sub-Saharan Africa one in five of the adult population is infected with HIV/AIDS, and the pandemic has already significantly reduced life expectancy and adversely affected infant mortality.

(Reuter)