Leaders meet World Bank, IMF chiefs

The president of the World Bank, James Wolfenson, and Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Horst Koehler, met with presidents of about 10 countries from West and Central Africa in Bamako, Mali, on Monday and Tuesday. The meeting marked the start of their unprecedented joint trip to the continent, news organisations reported. South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki and Algeria's Abdelaziz Bouteflika were due to join Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo at the meeting on Tuesday to present their long-term economic development plan for the revival of the continent first mooted at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January, Reuters said. Wolfenson and Koehler, who head two institutions often accused of dictating harsh economic policies to the continent, characterised their current trip as an opportunity to listen to Africa's leaders and find out what the world's poorest continent wants. The two officials are scheduled to visit Nigeria and Kenya, before concluding their trip with a meeting with leaders of eastern African countries in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam.