The World Bank supports the decision by Ghana to opt for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative and will drum up financial support for the West African country, Reuters reports World Bank Vice President for Africa Callisto Madavo said on Friday. He also praised the administration of President John Kufuor for its efforts to stabilize the economy since it took office in January.

Madavo also said African countries should work to diversify their economies and gain greater access to developed markets. "The future definitely doesn't lie in exporting unprocessed coffee and cocoa and bananas," he said. "We need to diversify African economies, enlarge economic spaces to attract investments and improve the efficiency of institutions such as ports and customs."

Madavo said the World Bank recognized that there were trade barriers in developed economies penalizing value-added products from African countries. "I think the next frontier we need to cross after debt relief for poor countries is market access," he said.

Ghanaian officials believe that more than 65 percent of the country's $6 billion external debt could be written off in five years as a result of its joining the HIPC initiative, the story notes. However, the move has been criticized by trade unions and the opposition.