NAIROBI, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank (ADB) appealed for multilateralism on Sunday, saying it was needed now than ever to help African economies out of their current predicament, the Ghana News Agency reported.

    "We need multilateralism now more than ever... but at the same time we must strengthen, not weaken the voice of low income countries in international institutions," Kebruka said. "When the Breton Woods institutions were set up, the developing countries had no voice at the table. Today, they have a very weak voice."

    "Our role in the world economy remains marginal except as suppliers of raw materials," he told journalists at the fringes of the International Monetary Fund/World Bank meetings in Singapore.

    On economic growth and poverty, he noted that there was the danger that Africa would be forgotten.

    Kebruka said Africa would not achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) if the Doha Development Round of trade talks were not resuscitated.

    African countries would only meet the 2015 deadline for the MDGs if they were able to mobilize domestic resources and achieved growth rates of seven to eight percent a year, Kaberuka said.

    "Trade is the key. Africa must trade its way out of poverty," he said, adding that the international community should open its markets and reduce subsidies to agricultural producers.

    He argued that African producers needed to increase productivity, increase the quality of their produce and secure the supply chain. Enditem