The African Union (AU) started its 12th Summit on Sunday morning here in the Ethiopian capital, with the continent's infrastructure development high on its agenda.

The first day of the summit is dedicated to a special session on Africa's Union Government, which is designed to seek the integration of the African continent.

The Union Government concept was brought forward at the pan-Africa body's ninth summit in Accra, Ghana in 2007.

Following the closed door session on the Union Government, the summit's opening ceremony will be staged on Monday morning with speeches by AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the League of Arab States Amr Moussa and several African heads of state and government.

Delegates to the summit will mainly discuss Africa's infrastructure building in the last two days of the three-day summit, with emphasis on the transport, energy and investment sectors.

Besides the main theme of infrastructure development, the African leaders will also exchange ideas on the global financial meltdown's impact on African countries and how to take coordinated measures to steer their economies through the crisis.

A number of hot regional issues, such as security situation in Somalia, Zimbabwe, Sudan's Darfur region and the Democratic Republic of Congo, are also expected to be discussed by the African heads of state and government.