CRI听力:Africa Commits to Rapid Deployment Force

The newly-elected African Union Chairperson, Mauritanian President Mohamed Abdel Aziz, said such a force will be crucial in preventing escalation of any crisis.

"Africa must do what is necessary to accelerate the operationalization of the African standby force and the African capacity for immediate response to crises in a spirit of continental solidarity."

The African Standby Force was supposed to be launched in 2010, with contingents based across Africa, but the date has been postponed repeatedly. The AU now wants the force to be operational by next year.

Although the theme of this summit was "Agriculture and Food Security" some observers say it was overshadowed by security issues.

The African Union Commission Chair Dlamini Zuma the theme will feature prominently in the next summit.

"Because this summit looks at a lot if things like the annual report there are a lot of things that were here but we said the June summit is going to be devoted in large measure to agriculture"

Meanwhile, the IGAD, or Intergovernmental Authority on Development decided during the summit that it would send envoys to South Sudan to monitor the implementation of a cease-fire between government forces and rebels.

The ceasefire was signed last week as part of the efforts to end the month-long violence.

But even with reports of continued violence in South Sudan, the country's foreign minister Barnaba Benjamin told CRI normalcy has largely returned to his country.

He especially accredited Chinese efforts in maintaining oil production in South Sudan.

"The oil has not stopped since the problem started. Most of the Chinese working in oil fields are already there because that is why the oil is continuing flowing."

During this summit, African Union also lifted its suspension of Madagascar, saying the country has completed its transition process and restored constitutional order.

For CRI, I'm XYee.