Mbeki promises to help nation fight poverty

South African President Thabo Mbeki has said his country would help the Republic of Congo (ROC) to fight poverty, which the UN Development Programme estimates to be afflicting up to 70 percent of the country's 3.1-million people.

"We have other challenges to take up together within the framework of development and of the fight against poverty," Mbeki said on Thursday in Brazzaville, the ROC capital, on the second of his two-day visit.

He said South Africa and the ROC could develop air, sea and railway transport, and dredge the port of Brazzaville on the River Congo. In addition, he said, there was need to modernise Congo's secondary airports and build other communication infrastructure.

"We support the decision by NEPAD [New Partnership for Africa's Development] for a bridge to be built connecting Brazzaville and Kinshasa," Mbeki said, referring to the capitals of the ROC and neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.

He said one of the key development needs in the ROC was the provision of adequate electrical power and, as such, South Africa was ready to undertake studies for small-scale dams at Mbama and Liouesso, in the north of the country.