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ABUJA - An African summit endorsed far-reaching measures on Tuesday intended to attract massive Western investments into Africa with promises of democracy and good governance.

The summit in Nigeria was the biggest gathering under the auspices of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), a home-grown initiative modelled on the "Marshall Plan" through which the United States helped rebuild Europe after World War Two.

Its plan estimates that Africa needs some $64 billion of investment inflows annually to ensure sustainable growth.

A final communique said the heads of state approved a mechanism by which Africans monitor how the continent's leaders and governments comply with benchmarks for economic and corporate management.

The African Peer Review Mechanism should ensure "that policies of African countries are based on best current knowledge and practices", the communique said.

The review will be based on eight draft codes and be conducted by an independent, credible African institute "separate from the political process and structures", it said.

The heads of state also gave strong support for a draft declaration on good political governance, committing heads of state to uphold plural democracy, respect human rights and freedom of the press and judiciary and to eradicate corruption.

The communique made no reference to this month's controversial election in Zimbabwe, roundly denounced by Britain, the United States and other Western governments as flawed.

Earlier, African officials attending the summit voiced anger at suggestions by the United States that overwhelming African endorsement of President Robert Mugabe's hotly disputed re-election could cost NEPAD much needed U.S. support.

"We take exception to that kind of position that countries like the United States are taking," said Wiseman Nkuhlu, chairman of NEPAD's steering committee and an economic adviser to South African President Thabo Mbeki.

"African countries are doing this because they think it's the right thing to do. For Africans to be dictated to like this is simply irritating," Nkuhlu told Reuters in Abuja.

ACTION PLAN FOR G8

Mugabe was not at the summit, which was attended by 16 heads of state or their representatives who formed the implementation committee.

The communique said the summit supported the thrust of a Draft Action Plan to be presented to a summit of the G8 group of industrialised nations and Russia in Canada in June.

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien is due to meet six African leaders during an April 5 visit to Nigeria before he hosts the G8 leaders.

Earlier, Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo told the summit: "The good news is that NEPAD is currently enjoying the reputation as the most attractive basis of productive and viable interaction between the international community and the continent of Africa.

"We are faced with the challenge of ensuring that the evolutionary process of NEPAD stays on course."

The Draft Action Plan is a blueprint for Africa's strategy for development and for dealing with a host of problems ranging from providing its people with water to combating HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

NEPAD is a brainchild of the presidents of Nigeria, South Africa, Algeria and Senegal, who have also emerged as Africa's spokesmen to the West on issues of development, aid and trade. Nampa-Reuters