BRASILIA, Feb. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced on Monday that he will leave on Tuesday for a five-day visit to four African countries -- Algeria, Benin, Botswana and South Africa.

    "We are fulfilling our international commitment to improve Brazil's relationship with those countries, because we can boost our trade with them and create a closer relationship with Africa, "Lula told local radio.

    Lula begins his visit in Algeria, where he will try to promote Brazil's exports to the oil-rich nation. Algeria has a trade surplus of 2.4 billion U.S. dollars with Brazil, mainly due to energy exports to the South American country. Lula will be accompanied by businessmen from aeronautics, maritime, auto and civil engineering sectors.

    In Benin, he will visit a community which is committed to malaria prevention and sports cooperation. Afterwards, Lula will offer anti-HIV treatment to Botswana, where one third of the population are suffering from HIV virus.

    At the weekend, Lula will attend a summit of 15 heads of state from Latin America and Europe in South Africa. The leaders will discuss WTO trade policies and how to break the deadlock over the Doha Round of talks.

    Lula has visited Africa five times since he came to power in 2002. Enditem