A two-day symposium to study the proposal for a United States of Africa, under the auspices of the 53-member African Union (AU), opened on Saturday in Nigeria's capital Abuja, the official News Agency of Nigeria reported.

The meeting tagged "Africa and the challenges of the global order: Desirability of the union government" was convened by Chairman of the seven-man AU committee of leaders on the proposal,President John Kufuor of Ghana, and attended by four other heads of states and government, it said.

In their separate opening addresses, both the AU Chairman, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Kufuor said that the idea of a union government, which will have its own central bank, military and parliament, was not new on the impoverished continent.

"They said that the conference must look at the pros and cons of such an arrangement and its workability in Africa, considering the very diverse nature of its people," the report said.

The conference is expected to look into the ways and means by which union governments emerged elsewhere and if the continent could also do the same and submit a report to the next meeting of the AU leaders in January next year.

President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, President Abdoulaye Wadeof Senegal and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia are attending the meeting. Presidents of Tanzania and Uganda, who are also members of the seven-man committee, sent their representatives.

Source: Xinhua