African leaders have gathered in Algeria to review NEPAD, Africa's ambitious plan for economic independence and prosperity.

About 20 African heads of state are attending the one-day summit, focusing on progress in implementing the three-year-old African Union-created blueprint.

Leaders are also expected to discuss relations with NEPAD's foreign partners, in particular the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations.

NEPAD, also called the New Partnership for Africa's Development, seeks to attract billions of dollars in foreign investment by strengthening democracy within Africa.

One of NEPAD's key achievements is its peer review system, under which member states volunteer to submit themselves and their track record on good governance to scrutiny by other African nations.  Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, and Mauritius are the first countries to undergo such a review.

Hosts of Tuesday's summit are Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and AU chairman and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo.