France wants to do better by Africa, says Jospin

French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin has said Paris intends to review and relaunch its aid programmes targeted at Africa in line with the new circumstances on the continent.

Speaking during a visit to Senegal, he said France wanted to do better.

"Africa is visibly changing.

New generations are opening up the continent to the most modern ideas.

Growth is returning.

The zones of influence inherited from the past are gradually fading away, " Jospin said, in remarks broadcast on French La Chaine Info TV on Saturday.

"In this context, it seems to me right that France should reflect deeply on the nature of its aid and truly and thoroughly adapt its tools of cooperation.

Let me make this clear: the French government does not intend to do less, but to do better," he said.

"It is my profound conviction that, in carrying through this renewal, we will meet a favourable response among our African partners themselves, who have long had a clear view of the limits of the cooperation introduced several decades ago."

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.