PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan yesterday embarked on a three-day working visit to Ethiopia, where she will also participate in the 38th ordinary session of the African Union (AU) assembly of Heads of State and government.

The State House Directorate of Communications said in a statement yesterday that the pivotal summit will elect a new African Union Commission chairman along with other top officials.

Mauritanian leader Mohamed Ould Ghazouani will leave the rotating AU chairmanship, and another elected to preside for the year 2025, it said

The summit will discuss the African Union’s ongoing participation in the Group of 20, to see how to make use of Africa’s increasing influence on global economic matters, it affirmed.

The Heads of State will consider the progress made towards the implementation of Agenda 2063, the AU's long-term vision for economic, political and social transformation across the continent, it said.

 As part of the climate action agenda, the summit will discuss AU strategies for addressing impacts of climate change, threatening food security and infrastructure development in many African states, it said.

Of special interest to the Tanzania delegation is slated discussion on clean cooking energy, as Tanzania has been at the forefront of efforts to adopt natural gas use as sustainable alternative to wood fuel or charcoal,

President Sauna has often asserted that reliance on traditional cooking methods has significant environmental and health impacts, thus the clean cooking solutions initiative is aligned with broader goals of promoting clean energy solutions,

African countries need to have access to affordable, renewable and environmentally-friendly energy sources, the main part of this agenda now being placed at risk on account of diminishing climate funding worldwide, analysts affirmed.

Alongside the summit, Head of State convened for the African Union Peace and Security Council meeting yesterday, a session that was to be addressed UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

The council has a crucial role in addressing conflicts, conducting peace building and supervising the overall security environment across the continent.

Discussions are expected to centre on peacekeeping efforts, political stability in member states and the AU’s response to emerging security challenges, including terrorism, civil unrest and regional conflicts, especially the ongoing war in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).