By Kwasi Kpodo

ACCRA, Nov 20 (Reuters) - NATO is committed to helping improve security in Africa but expects African states to take the lead in fighting piracy off the continent's shores, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said late on Wednesday.

De Hoop Scheffer was responding to a call by Ghana's defence minister for closer collaboration between African regional bodies and NATO to combat piracy off Africa's coasts and tackle other security problems such as money laundering.

The NATO chief spoke during an international alert over piracy off the Horn of Africa, where Somali pirates have caused havoc in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes connecting Europe to Asia and the Middle East.

"This continent still has many problems, but it is my strong conviction that Africans should be in the lead to find solutions for those problems, and not others," de Hoop Scheffer said after arriving in Ghana on Wednesday.

He did not mention the Somali piracy threat.

"I do think that NATO could do a lot in being instrumental, for instance, by intensifying training for the African Union standby force to enrich their experience, which could then be used to reach out appropriately where it is needed to solve Africa's problems," he said.

Ghanaian Defence Minister Albert Kan-Dapaah called for closer collaboration between the African Union and sub-regional organisations like the Economic Community of West African States in particular to fight a rise in piracy off West Africa.

Armed groups there have become more daring in their seaborne raids, especially off Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta. Militants from Cameroon's nearby Bakassi peninsula freed 10 mostly French hostages last week after holding them for nearly two weeks.

Off east Africa, Somali pirates on Saturday seized a supertanker carrying $100 million worth of oil in the biggest ship hijacking in history.

"We need to act in concert to face these challenges by working closely to share intelligence and information on how best to turn the insecurity situation around," Kan-Dapaah said, adding that no single country could tackle the problem alone.

"We need to seach for global solutions to global concerns and we must develop reliable consultations and set up mechanisms to fight the security challenges we face today," he said.

Russia's ambassador to NATO said on Wednesday the 26-member alliance should launch land operations against the pirates' land bases in Somalia alongside European Union forces and in coordination with Russia.

NATO deployed ships off Somalia last month, escorting ships delivering humanitarian aid and mounting anti-piracy patrols as part of an international effort to fight piracy.

NATO is due to hand over its role in the effort to the European Union in December, NATO spokesman James Appathurai said in Accra. (Editing by Alistair Thomson and Tim Pearce)

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