Infrastructure development, a key factor to the continent's social and economic advancement, is to top the agenda of the 12th African Union (AU) Summit slated for February 1-3 in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

Speaking at a press conference held ahead of the summit, AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping said the theme of "Infrastructure Development in Africa" for the upcoming meeting was decided at the 11th summit held in Sharm el-Sheike last June.

He said heads of state and government of AU member countries will especially focus on concrete projects in such sectors as transport and energy in the first two days of the summit.

"The heads of state and government will lay emphasis on concrete infrastructure development projects rather than just making empty talks," Jean Ping said.

Poor infrastructure conditions have always been a hindrance to African countries' development. In the eastern African country of Kenya, congestions on roads and the main port Mombasa have been widely criticized for holding back economic growth.

Meanwhile, soaring electricity prices and shortage of power supply in the past year not only troubled Kenya's factory owners, but also made life harsh for ordinary households.

There are many African states with even poorer infrastructure conditions than Kenya, so efforts for improvement are in urgent need if these countries are to seek better growth. As Jean Ping has said, action, rather than empty talks, is the way to solve problems. He emphasized that this summit will focus on specific development projects.

As the AU chief put it, infrastructure constitutes the core of development and the ground work for physical, economic and political integration of Africa. Plans for building more highways and hydropower plants will be discussed during the summit, he said. Implementing these plans, however, still needs the collaboration of regional economic communities such as the African Development Bank, the Economic Commission for Africa and the African Monetary Fund.

Africa, a continent with relatively weak connection with the Western economies, may not be hit so hard by the global financial crisis, yet the African economy is not totally immune to the meltdown.

Delegates to the summit will also discuss ways to reduce the impact of the sweeping crisis on the African economy, Jean Ping said, adding that the third day of the summit would feature a special session on the Union Government.

Apart from the above mentioned pre-designated topics for the February 1-3 gathering, a number of the continent's hot issues will also be discussed when the African leaders meet.

The leaders are expected to have discussions on security situation in Somalia, Sudan's Darfur region, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe as well as other African countries or regions.

Such issues have been attracting high media attention in the past, and the AU chairperson has urged at the same press conference that the outside world look at more progress African countries had made, like the democratic elections held last month in the western African country Ghana.

As the summit draws near, ambassadors of AU member countries have met here on January 26-27 and a minister level meeting held on January 29-30 to make preparations for the upcoming summit, the 12th one since the pan-African body was officially formed in July 2002.