France has said it wants to set firm conditions for granting foreign aid to poor countries to promote good governance and democracy.
In a speech outlining France's foreign assistance priorities, Jean-Marie Bockel, the state secretary for co-operation and francophone affairs, said at least four criteria should be met by countries receiving aid.
He said that questions should be asked as to whether the government is democratically elected, as well as are the policies directed at helping the most vulnerable, in addition to asking are human rights respected and what efforts are made to fight corruption.
President Nicolas Sarkozy promised during his election campaign to revamp relations with Africa to put an end to France's support for dubious regimes.
France's foreign assistance budget represents to 0.47% of the gross domestic product but Paris has pledged to increase that amount to 0.7% of GDP by 2015.
Mr Sarkozy paid his first visit to Africa last week, travelling to Algeria and Tunis and is expected to travel to sub-Saharan Africa soon.
