African heads of state meet to discuss terrorism, Ebola at AU summit

World Today

African leaders will meet on Friday in Ethiopia to discuss the terrorism of the Boko Haram and how to fight the Ebola virus during the much-anticipated African heads of state assembly as part of the 24th African Union Summit currently underway. CCTV’s Girum Chala reported this story from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

“There will be a discussion around Ebola and I think one of the outcome if the discussion, hopefully we can persuade the heads of state that we could campaign to end this Ebola and to insure that the countries that are suffering this epidemic do not suffer a lot of economic setbacks,” chairperson of African Union Commission Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said.

The meeting will also include the naming of a new chairperson for the AU. The leader will come from the Southern Africa region and many expect that 91-year-old Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe will be named.

Leader will also discuss finding adequate and alternative means to finance infrastructure projects, tackle the effects of climate change, and how countries can utilize the new African risk capacity insurance for member states to find quick financing to minimize the effects of disasters.

“Disasters in particular are areas where countries find it very hard to get the financing quickly in place to react to disasters. Longer term effects of those disasters are huge on developing countries,” CEO of African Risk Capacity Simion Young said. “They set back development, they put people back into poverty who are working themselves out of its what we are trying to do is to facilitate a better flow of funding which both Is quicker and more response but also includes the governments themselves in that response.”