France and Britain on Tuesday vowed to step up cooperation in sub-Saharan Africa, with a joint visit by the two countries' foreign ministers to the Great Lakes region later this year.

In a declaration issued at the end of a summit in the northern French resort of Le Touquet, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac said they would build on a commitment first made in 1998 to act in concert to encourage development and peace on the continent.

"Our efforts will be focused on countries that demonstrate a political and financial commitment to good governance and the rule of law, work towards poverty elimination and pursue policies that spur economic growth," they said.

Insisting that primary responsibility for preventing conflict in Africa falls on the continent itself, the leaders said they would take joint initiatives at the United Nations, the European Union and the Group of Eight (G8) developed nations to support regional efforts to deploy peacekeepers.

"These initiatives will include developing African capacity so that by 2010 Africa will be able to deploy a permanent and substantial force for observation, peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations," they said.

According to the declaration, Foreign Ministers Jack Straw of Britain and Dominique de Villepin of France will travel together to the Great Lakes region in the coming months - Sapa-AFP.