African Ministers Assemble for 16th AU Session

African foreign ministers opened the 16th session of the Executive Council meeting here Thursday, ahead of a Heads of State and Government Summit, with African Union (AU) Commission chairman Jean Ping giving a mixed picture about conflicts on the continent.

He said some conflicts on the continent were moving towards resolution, while others remained deeply intractable, with no end in sight.

But he said Africa has made progress in the areas of infrastructure, energy, education and agriculture development which the AU has identified as a common priority. The AU boss said Guinea Conakry, Madagascar and Somalia were the main political problems facing Africa, with instability in the three countries far from resolution. In Madagascar, Ping said ousted leader Marc Ravalomanana and incumbent Andry Rajoelina failed to agree on an AU-brokered political settlement, keeping the country politically unstable. He said the parties were given 15 days to come to agreement, and welcomed the cancellation of elections which Rajoelina had unilaterally called for, which could have torpedoed the AU´s mediation efforts.

In Guinea Conakry, where the military grip on power appears to be loosening, the AU boss said the situation was uncertain.  Ping said the AU Commission would remain engaged in the country, with a view to returning Guinea Conakry to constitutional rule. In Somalia, he said Islamists were frustrating peace efforts, but welcomed an increase in the number of peace keepers to help stabilize the war-torn country.  He appealed for more soldiers.

But, said Ping, conflicts and political instability in other countries such as Burundi, the Comoros and the Democratic Republic of Congo were coming to resolution, in large part due to intense AU diplomatic intervention. He said the continental body would continue peace-making efforts in these countries to consolidate emerging political stability.

The AU boss said trans-national infrastructure projects, such as a big cross-country railway project in Central Africa, and power projects in southern Africa, were making progress, with donors committing funding to some of them.

In the area of energy, the AU was supporting the expansion of the Inga hydro-power project in the DRC, and a similar Kafue Gorge scheme in Zambia. Ping said various agricultural projects were either being undertaken or in the pipeline “to ensure food security and reduction of hunger, malnutrition and poverty.”  In the educational sector, which is another AU priority area, plans for a Pan African University had been approved, he said.