ADDIS-ABEBA - President Paul Kagame, yesterday, concluded his visit to Addis-Abeba, Ethiopia, where he, along with 25 other African Heads of State and Government, attended the 16th Ordinary African Union Summit.

The two-day Summit, which was attended by UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, and French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, focused mainly on political and security concerns on the African continent.

President Kagame, also met with members of "Afrique Femmes Solidarites” on the sidelines of the AU Summit, the organization that presented him the Africa Gender Award in 2008. This year’s award was presented to Liberian President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.

During the meeting, Madame Bineta Diop, who heads the organization, commended Rwanda for ensuring women emancipation and observed that the award presented to President Kagame made him, the women Ambassador, not only in Africa, but the entire world.

During the 16th AU Summit, the heads of state and government attended various mini-summits on Ivory Coast, Sudan and Somalia, and discussed several other hotspots, such as Niger and Madagascar.

Two of the continent’s latest-breaking political crises - Egypt and Tunisia - were not discussed because they were ostensibly not part of the agenda.

The AU Peace and Security Council created a high-level panel, comprising five Heads of State from all the regions of the continent, to deal with the crisis in Ivory Coast, and report back to the council in one month.

Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Ngcuema Mbasogo took over the rotating presidency of the AU from incumbent Bingu wa Mutharika.

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