A new panel of world leaders is being set up to help keep the Gleneagles promises on tackling poverty.

Chaired by Kofi Annan and funded by Bill Gates, the Africa Progress Panel will maintain the international profile of Africa which began in 2005.

It will encourage and measure progress, reporting annually to the G8 and United Nations.

Bob Geldof and President Obasanjo of Nigeria will also take part.

Tony Blair made the announcement in a speech at King's College in London which coincided with the first anniversary of the G8 summit, where Africa and climate change were at the top of the agenda.

Business Action for Africa itself emerged as a result of the G8 and the UK government's 2005 Commission for Africa.

The Commission for Africa, in which Bob Geldof played a role, identified the need to coordinate a business response to the challenges of poverty in Africa - and as a result Business Action for Africa emerged as the business-led initiative to help achieve this.

Tony Blair, in his speech, listed some of the steps forward that had been made in the last 12 months.

These include an increase in aid and debt cancellation for the poorest countries, investment in health and education, action against corruption in Africa and progress on achieving international consensus on climate change.

But he also warned that there was still much to do, despite the successes of the last year.

"We set some ambitious aims at Gleneagles. We have made good progress. But it will take hard work for years to come to eliminate poverty in Africa and tackle climate change."

Mr Blair also announced that spending on education programmes in developing countries will reach £1 billion per year by 2010, up from the £440 million per annum at the moment.

Praising the Make Poverty History campaign, the PM said that kind of public support was needed "year in and year out" if we wanted to end poverty and stop climate change.

This press release has been adapted from a news story on www.number10.gov.uk.

Read Tony Blair's speech in full.
Milestones in the 12 months since Gleneagles.