The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday called on donor countries, traditional and additional alike, to honor their commitments to Africa so as to help fend off or mitigate the effects on the continent of the ongoing financial crisis and economic downturn.

The IMF made the call at its conference for African finance ministers and central bank governors, stressing that honoring the commitments would help prevent the continent's economic gains from slipping away.

IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told conference participants that though African countries are in much stronger positions than they have been many years ago, many African economies still need significant additional concessional financing to weather and tide over the crisis.

"At a time when the international community is finding hundreds of billions of dollars for crisis resolution, I cannot accept that we will not be able to find hundreds of millions of dollars for LICs (least invested countries)," said Mr. Kahn.

The IMF chief reminded donor countries that they had committed at the Gleneagles meeting to increase their assistance to Africa to US$50 billion by next year and to US$75 billion by 2015.

"Donors must act now to meet these commitments," said Mr. Kahn who also called on the international community to reject protectionism in both trade and finance. "The international community must help Africa at this time of great need."

African countries were warned at the Dar es Salaam conference that the impact of the ongoing financial crisis would reach their borders finally and the consequences could be severe.

Mr. Kahn said that the financial crisis, which has been slow in reaching Africa's shores, is coming and its impact will be severe. "This 'third wave' of the crisis, which is hitting low- income countries, will depress economic growth, put budgets under strain, and weaken external accounts.

"And the threat is not only economic: there is a real risk that millions (of people) will be thrown back into poverty."

For the past few years, growth in sub-Saharan Africa has averaged over 5 percent per year. But the IMF has readjusted downward its projected growth rate for this year for Africa from 6.3 percent to 3.3 percent, taking into consideration of the encroaching effects of the global financial crisis.

Falling commodity prices and falling market demands will finally affect the exports by African countries.

Africa, therefore, should not be left out in the process of working out a global crisis-response policy because "this is not only about protecting economic growth and household incomes -- it is also about containing the threat of civil unrest, perhaps even of war," said Mr. Kahn.

The IMF chief told some 300 participants to the two-day conference that it is not only a moral duty but the historic obligation, given the colonial history of the African continent, as well for the developed world to assist the developing world, Africa in particular.

He wanted the Dar es Salaam conference to serve as a special medium to convey the message to the planned G-20 Leaders Summit to be held next month in London.

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, whose government plays a co- host with IMF to the Dar es Salaam conference, said that the message should be for development partners to deliver their promises and commitments so as to assist the African countries to achieve the MDGs.

Former United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan, who is now president of the Global Humanitarian Forum, said that the message should make the G-20 leaders "keenly aware (that) it is a global issue" and that the G-20 do not speak for the entire world.

"So the voice of the poor is important and everyone should be included to help stimulate economy," said Mr. Annan who wanted Africa to be part of the solution to the ongoing global financial and economic crises.

Mr. Annan said that Africa can be part of the solution to the economic crisis by being part of a global stimulus plan and that Africa must be fully represented in the evolving economic global architecture.

In an effort to better financially support crisis-affected African countries, the IMF on Tuesday announced its plan to set up two more technical assistance centers in Africa.

The international financial institution already has three such assistance centers in Gabon, Mali and Tanzania to help deliver financial support. The new ones will be set up in western and southern Africa.

Rising economies like China, India and Brazil were called upon to play important roles in Africa's efforts to fend off or mitigate the impact of the financial crisis and the economic downturn.

Mr. Annan described China, India and Brazil as additional resources to the IMF in its continued efforts to support Africa.

The Tanzanian president said that China is already a key development partner of Africa thanks to its investment, its market and its assistance.

Participants on Tuesday discussed about how to sustain Africa's successful growth in recent years and how to forge successful partnerships in the future.