The Gambian leader, Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, at midnight, last Friday, departed Banjul for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to join other heads of state of the continent in discussing, among other issues, continental unity.

President Jammeh was accompanied by a high ranking delegation, and was seen off at the Banjul International Airport by the vice president and secretary of state for women’s affairs, Aja Dr Isatou Njie Saidy, secretaries of state, senior government officials, and a cross section of other people.

Report monitored by the Daily Observer indicates that the African Union leaders opened the summit with a discussion on creating a pan-African government, similar to the European Union. Such a plan has been pushed by a few leaders on the continents, who argue that it would help Africa meet economic and political challenges without Western interference.

The Addis Ababa summit is reported to be officially devoted to improving Africa's infrastructure, but it has so far been dominated by the continent's urgent crises. Late on Saturday, AU Commission chairman Jean Ping called for calm in Madagascar, where an opposition leader is reported to have declared himself president. Ping said the AU would not recognize any unconstitutional transfer of power.  The AU is also reported to have refused to admit delegates from Guinea and Mauritania this week, both of which experienced coup d'etats last year.

AU leaders are also expected to discuss the crises in Zimbabwe, Sudan's Darfur region and Somalia. Among the heads of state attending the meeting is Somalia's new president, moderate Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.  In his inaugural address on Saturday, Sheikh Sharif promised Somali lawmakers that he would end the decades of conflict in his country.

More than half of the continent's 50-plus heads of state and government are expected to attend, along with a host of dignitaries led by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The United States is playing an unusually low profile role at the summit, partly because the Obama administration has not yet named its Africa team.  The U.S. delegation will be led by a career diplomat, acting assistant secretary of state for African Affairs Philip Carter.