Accra, Jan. 20. GNA - The Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Gerhard Schroeder on Tuesday said the G8 was determined to help Africa tackle its problems, ranging from poverty and unemployment to epidemics and ethnic wars.

"You have set encouraging examples on these issues here in Africa" adding that the establishment of the African Union was a clear step towards more integration, good governance and the rule of law, a statement faxed to the GNA by the German Embassy in Accra said. Chancellor Schroeder urged the African Union and African Governments to show that they were serious about the implementation of the Peer Review Mechanism, an initiative that sends signal that Africa was ready to assume responsibility for its own future and to integrate itself into the world economy on the basis of its strengths and by drawing on its own resources.

These were in a speech Chancellor Schroeder delivered to the African Union in Addis Ababa on Monday at the beginning of a tour to four African countries - Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa and Ghana - he would arrive in Accra on Friday January 23.

Chancellor Schroeder said it was regrettable that Africa had become a continent with the most armed conflicts in the world. He said most of the wars were internal armed conflicts, which claimed millions of lives and impeded any chance of people leading dignified lives.

Chancellor Schroeder urged African leaders to stop this vicious cycle before any more conflict erupted on the continent. He said freedom, prosperity and sustainable development could be achieved only in a secured environment and for which reason Africans ought not only to resolutely confront insecurity and violence but also to root out their causes.

This is the first time a German Head of State is visiting Ghana.