More Loans for Southern Africa Sought

Governments that provide loans for the poorest people of the world will be asked to make new contributions to feed the starving in southern Africa, World Bank President A. W. Clausen announced Friday.

Representatives of 33 governments have been requested to attend a special two-day meeting this month at which the World Bank will solicit funds for the hungry people of 39 countries south of the Sahara, Clausen said.

“The proportion of the world’s people in poverty has gone up . . . during the last few years,” Clausen said at ceremonies in Atlanta honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

A spokesman for Clausen, Bill Brannigan, said donor governments have been requested to send ministers or the heads of central banks to Washington on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.

He said that would give new Treasury Secretary-designate James A. Baker a chance to get his first experience at representing the United States at an international conference.

Brannigan explained that the World Bank will then try to get a one-time contribution from all the 33 countries that have already given to the bank’s International Development Assn., which makes loans to impoverished nations. The contributions would be spent in Africa over the next three years, he said.

Clausen complained that International Development Assn. gets too little in contributions.