The 12th Annual Summit of the African Union opened here in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia under the theme ''Infrastructure Development in Africa.'' In his statement declaring the Summit officially opened, African Union Chairman and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete spoke of the modest progress made on the continent, but stressed that much more needed to be done. For his part, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Jean Ping, said the global recession has the propensity to deeply affect all efforts made by African states to fight poverty and called for more support for the AU Commission. Ping also spoke of the need for Africa to strengthen itself to promote continental food security, according to a report of Qatar News Agency (QNA). Serving as a guest speaker, United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, pledged U.N.'s support for Africa's progress. He observed that the recent conflict in Gaza, Palestine, teaches a lesson that prevention is better than cure.
