Brazil said Saturday it plans to cancel Sh75.6 billion ($900 million) (700 million euro) worth of debt in 12 African countries, as part of a broader strategy to boost ties with the continent.

"The idea of having Africa as a special relationship for Brazil is strategic for Brazil’s foreign policy,” presidential spokesman Thomas Traumann told reporters on the sidelines of African Union celebrations to mark 50 years of the continental bloc, attended by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.The announcement was made as African leaders marked the African Union’s 50th birthday against a backdrop of economic growth, despite persistent armed conflicts and the new shadow of the threat of terrorism.AU Chairman and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn was optimistic as he launched extravagant celebrations urging leaders to "create a continent free from poverty and conflict, and an Africa whose citizens enjoy a middle income status.”But Saturday’s party in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa will be followed by a more sobering two-day summit to tackle a series of crises across the continent.Today’s 54-member AU is the successor of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), established in 1963 in the heady days when independence from colonial rule was sweeping the continent.African leaders were joined by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, French President Francois Hollande, US Secretary of State John Kerry, Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

The presence of such a high-level Chinese official illustrated Beijing’s growing footprint on the continent, while Rousseff’s attendance marked the increasing sway wielded by developing economies.Africa remains the world’s poorest continent and its most war-prone but development indicators -- including health, education, infant mortality, economic growth and democracy -- have improved steadily in the past 50 years.Africa is also home to some of the fastest-growing economies in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund, and has attracted huge amounts of foreign investment in recent years.