Zambian President Frederick Chiluba blamed the West for Africa's poverty, saying that slavery has continued to afflict Africa despite the end of colonialism.

The West has continued to restrict imports from Africa to raw materials only, Chiluba said Thursday before departing for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in Durban, South Africa.

Zambia's message to the Commonwealth will be that Africa does not need sympathy but that measures to benefit the continent should be introduced, The Post newspaper Friday quoted Chiluba as saying.

"There is a lot of poverty around," he said. "It's not pitying Africa that we need."

Asked on what was expected to come out of the summit, the president said what Africa wants is not sympathy but to develop on the same level with West nations.