Abuja/Berlin - German President Horst Koehler leaves Friday on a six-day visit to Nigeria, during which he will take part in a conference on Africa and hold political discussions with his hosts.

The German-sponsored fourth Africa Forum of the Partnership with Africa initiative is likely to be overshadowed by fighting between government forces and rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has turned more than 200,000 people into refugees.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who has been accused by Congo's government of backing the rebels, cancelled plans to join the gathering after attending a Congo summit in Nairobi, Kenya on Friday.

The Africa Forum has met three times previously - once in Ghana and twice in Germany.

Koehler, who will be accompanied by his wife, Eva Luise, has constantly spoken on the need to support good governance and economic advances in African nations.

His office said the Nigeria gathering should not be seen as a donor-recipient conference, but as a gathering aimed at creating greater understanding and proximity.

Following the end of the talks on Sunday, Koehler is due to meet Nigeria's president, Umaru Musa Yar'adua, who took office in May 2007.

Nigeria, according to Koehler's office, has embarked on a process of reform under the new leader, who has shown a willingness to combat corruption and act to stop the numerous kidnappings of foreign nationals.

Nigeria, with 140 million inhabitants, is Africa's most populous country. It has "enormous potential" because of a wealth of natural resources, particularly oil, the president's office said.

"Our political relations are on a solid basis and we are still working very hard to improve and to deepen these relations," Germany's ambassador to Nigeria, Joachim Schmillen, said.

In the first seven months of the year, Germany imported goods worth one billion euros from Nigeria and exported goods worth 700 million euros (895.5 million dollars) to the African country during the period.

"One of the most important aspects of our economic relations during the last year has been the establishment of the Nigerian- German Energy Partnership, which was formalized in August with signing a Memorandum of Understanding," he said.

Schmillen added that the partnership would lead to the provision of 6,000 megawatts of electricity to Nigeria's electricity grid by German companies. (dpa)