NAIROBI, March 8 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday called on Africa to lay policy foundation for the continent's economic transformation, saying governance and climate change are major challenges facing the continent.

Speaking in Nairobi during a panel discussion, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said Africa also faces the twin challenges of reviving strong growth and reinforcing resilience to the economic shocks that regularly batter the continent.

"The twin challenges for Africa are to revive strong growth and reinforce resilience to shocks," he said in a speech that set the scene for a panel discussion involving Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta in Nairobi.

Strauss-Kahn assessed the impact of the global economic and financial crisis on Africa. While noting that the crisis had struck Africa through many different channels, he said that "all across the continent, we can see signs of life, with rebounds in trade, export earnings, bank credit, and commercial activity."

The IMF chief who arrived in Kenya on Saturday will also visit South Africa and Zambia to reinforce the IMF's improved relations with the continent, talk with political and business leaders, and promote the continued transformation of Africa.

"After getting through the global economic crisis relatively well, Africa must now address longer term challenges to the continent's future, including governance issues and climate change, to be able to press ahead with the region's economic transformation," Strauss-Kahn said.

The IMF director said African countries were largely innocent victims of the global financial crisis. He said the war-ravaged continent will continue to face large, persistent and costly shocks, and these shocks will continue to cause great human suffering.

Without a secure standard of living, Strauss-Kahn said people might turn to unproductive or even violent activities, possibly leading to instability, a breakdown of democracy, or war -- all compounding the initial suffering.