DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania - The head of the International Monetary Fund has begun a tour of Ghana & four other African nations to find out how they are faring in their attempts to reduce the extreme poverty that experts say is holding back their development.

IMF Managing Director Horst Kohler was expected to meet Monday with goverment officials in Tanzania, one of the world's poorest nations and also one of the first to benefit from relief of its external debt under an IMF initiative.

Kohler will also travel to Congo, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Burkina Faso on the trip.

An IMF statement said the focus of the tour, Kohler's third since taking office two years ago, will be his participation in workshop discussions with government officials, members of legislatures, civil society organizations and academics on ways to reduce poverty in Africa.

Kohler will also discuss the establishment of regional technical assistance centers in Africa, modeled on successful ones already established in the Pacific and Caribbean regions.