African leaders will mainly discuss the issues of water and sanitation during the upcoming 11th African Union (AU) summit to be held in Egypt, Egyptian minister of water resources Mahmoud Abu Zeid said Sunday.
The AU summit will kick off on June 30 in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, the minister was quoted by state MENA news agency as saying during a symposium on water and sanitation in Arab world and north Africa.
Earlier in the day, Burundian ambassador to Egypt Amissi Ntangibingura said the lack of a well-established infrastructure is the main reason behind water crisis in Africa.
Urging African countries to exert more efforts to supply all African peoples with sufficient water, Ntangibingura hoped that the summit would put forward practical means for the best exploitation of the multiple water resources in the continent.
With the theme of "Meeting the Millennium Development Goals on Water and Sanitation," the AU summit will attract more than 50 African leaders.
The summit will also tackle the status of peace and security in Africa and the implementation of the outcome of an AU special summit in the Nigerian capital Abuja on May 2006, according to media reports.
(Xinhua News Agency June 16, 2008)
