By Lesley Wroughton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Robert Zoellick, U.S. President George W. Bush's nominee to head the World Bank, will travel to Africa, Europe and Latin America to lobby for the job starting on Monday, and said he wants to hear directly from governments about their development priorities.

"I want to leave no stone unturned in showing people I am serious in reaching out and hearing their perspectives. It shows courtesy and respect," the former deputy secretary of state told reporters during a call before he left for Ghana, his first stop in Africa.

His tour will include discussions in Ghana, Ethiopia and South Africa on the needs of the bank's poorest clients, in Europe with the institution's largest funders, and in Mexico and Brazil, representing a clutch of emerging economic powers.

Zoellick, also a former U.S. Trade Representative, is likely to be confirmed as the next World Bank president this month. He has been praised for his roles in global trade talks and as Washington's point man on the humanitarian crisis in Darfur and relations with China.

He would succeed Paul Wolfowitz, a senior official in both Bush administrations and an architect of the Iraq war, who resigned last month amid an ethics scandal involving a high-paid promotion for his female companion.

So far, Zoellick is the only candidate for the job and his bid is unlikely to be contested despite a deadline for other nominations by June 15 and a push by some developing countries to open up the selection process to include non-Americans.

The head of the World Bank has historically been an American chosen by the White House under an informal agreement with Europe, which picks the head of the International Monetary Fund.

'POTPOURRI' OF INTERESTS

As Zoellick embarks on what he calls a "listening and learning" tour paid for by Washington and his own frequent flyer miles, he said he had already consulted with a broad spectrum of people about the job, including U.S. lawmakers, former bank officials and country representatives on the bank's 24-nation board, which will ultimately decide if he gets it.

He said it was too soon to know what strategy he would carve out for the bank and he had encountered a "potpourri" of interests and needs among donors and borrowers alike.

Among topics raised were concern for the world's poorest countries and reaching the 2010 global target of halving poverty, the role of the World Bank in fast-emerging nations such as China, India and Brazil, and its ability to help countries emerging from conflict, he said.

"I want to try as quickly as I can to reach out to both developing countries and developed countries and get their sense of priorities, issues in the broader development agenda, and questions related to the World Bank, and get their input and I hope their support," Zoellick said.

Zoellick's nomination comes as the World Bank is in the throes of raising funds for its lending programs and needs broad support from donor countries, notably in Europe.

There was special concern within the bank that European nations might withhold funding for World Bank development projects during Wolfowitz's controversial tenure.

"People understand the bank has gone through a difficult period and ... most people are looking ahead," Zoellick said.

He added: "I think with most, if not all, of the countries I am going to, (they) have already expressed their support."