The President of the Spanish Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, encouraged the African Union to work towards the unity and democracy of the continent as the road to prosperity, security and peace.

“May this union become stronger each day and may the desire for peace be rewarded, may the story that is written about the African continent over the coming years be about development and cooperation”, said Rodríguez Zapatero during the 14th African Union (AU) Summit on Sunday in Addis Ababa.

Personally invited by the President of the AU Commission, Jean Ping, 
Rodríguez Zapatero took part in the opening ceremony of the meeting called “Information and Communication Technologies in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities for Development”.

As the rotating President of the EU, he has stressed the importance of having a “united and democratic Africa, sure of itself and working for prosperity”, and has assured that there are millions of human beings ready to collaborate in this task.
 
Thus, he encouraged the African Union to strengthen the economic union of African States and develop transport, agriculture, energy and communication infrastructures to join up the whole of the African continent.
 
Zapatero also expressed his concern for the situation in Somalia and assessed the efforts of the EU, the AU, the UN and international community. Nevertheless, he warned that “these efforts are insufficient; Somalia is suffering”.
 
“Somalia is a risk if we do not provide much more support to the Transitional Federal Government; otherwise, Somalia will become a breading ground for the worst behaviours that destroy coexistence and close doors for generations”.
 
For Zapatero “terrorism, trade in human beings, kidnapping, drug trafficking and  piracy demand a convincing and preventive response, and the commitment of the international community headed by the United Nations”.
 
A commitment that Spain is not only demonstrating with its contribution of 45 million dollars to the African Union peace and security agenda, but also with the 2,200 million dollars in development cooperation it is currently contributing annually.