Dozens of African heads of state and government gathered in Accra, the capital of Ghana, on Sunday to discuss the continent's political and economic integration issues.

The only theme of this summit is the "Grand Debate on the Union Government."

The establishment of the African Union Government is part of a proposal of realizing the continent's political and economic integration by setting up a United States of Africa by 2015.

The union's 53 members have all agreed that the union's ultimate objective is the political and economic integration of the continent leading to the creation of the United States of Africa, an idea pioneered by pan-Africanists, represented by the Republic of Ghana's founding president Kwame Nkrumah.

However, differences exist over the modalities and the time frame for achieving this goal and the appropriate pace of integration.

(Xinhua News Agency July 2, 2007)