As Britain prepares to take control of the G8, Gordon Brown has said that the leading economies of the world should be held to account for their actions in alleviating poverty in Africa.

The chancellor said that the next 12 months are "make or break" for development, announcing a renewed drive to reduce debt and combat diseases such as Aids and malaria.

Britain takes control of the G8 on January 1, with ministers set to work towards a renewed drive on Africa by the time leaders gather in Scotland for a summit next summer.

Brown said ministers should be held to account for their actions in relation to reducing African debt levels.

"The task for government now is to replace talk by action, initiatives by results, and rise to the challenge, pledging to strive for urgent progress both on the priorities of finance and development and trade," he was set to say in a lecture to the Cafod charity.

Ahead of the speech he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that trade issues such as reforming the EU's agriculture subsidies are as important as debt relief. 

"We need more resources allied to progress on trade and progress on debt relief if we are going to make an impact on the problems of ill health, of illiteracy, of poverty, particularly in Africa but right through the developing countries," he said.

Targets

Charities and aid agencies fear the world's leading nations are set to miss key UN targets on international development.

Next year will see the government putting Africa centre-stage.

The prime minister's commission for Africa reports in the spring, and Tony Blair is poised to use both the EU and G8 presidencies to push the issue further up the political agenda.

Conservative international development spokesman Alan Duncan said the chancellor should match his words with action.

"If Brown is serious about ending global poverty, he needs to explain exactly how he will take the lead in establishing freer and fairer trade, by his working through all the global institutions which have the power to shape it," he said.

"Right on his doorstep is the EU, whose presidency we are about to hold, whose action - through its own protectionist practices - does so much to keep poor countries poor.

"It's also in the gift of this government, and others it works with, to ensure that our aid money goes to those who need it, and not to untrustworthy governments whose use of the money is often questionable."