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The article discusses the highlights of the Second High Level Meeting of Africa-European Union (EU) Energy Partnership (AEEP) held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on February 13, 2014, wherein continued cooperation of stakeholders was discussed to ensure access to energy by Africans across the continent.

The article reports on the state visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to the 48 countries of Africa. His first trip to Africa came after the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which aims to double the aid to Africa and expand access for goods of low-income countries to China. Between the countries he visited, which China has diplomatic ties, include Cameroon, Liberia and Sudan. Discussions on each country's events during the president's visit are also presented.

The article discusses China's win-win diplomacy towards Africa. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao made an extensive tour of Africa in June 2006 as the country's quest to secure future energy supplies and raw materials for its economy. The trip is also being used as a platform to advance China's foreign policy orientation on Africa and other developing regions. Critics say that China's hunger for energy and supplies has led it to cooperation with some unsavory regimes in Africa and beyond.

The article highlights the cooperation and trade efforts of Africa and France. It is stated that French President Nicolas Sarkozy, on his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa, proposed a partnership between the two continents to tame the harmful effects of globalization and foster development, dubbed as Euroafrica. In a speech to students at Dakar's Chenikh Anta Diop University in Senegal, Sarkozy urged the continent to take responsibility for tackling corruption and widespread conflict. He also pledge to make a break with the French government's traditional relations with Africa, marked by cosy personal ties with the ruling elites of Francophone countries.

The article reports on the cooperation and trade efforts of Africa and the U.S. It is stated that the trade program that gives preferential access to the U.S. market for African exports has proved disappointing in several respects. This was the consensus as a conference reviewing the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) took place in mid-July 2007 in Ghana. Moreover, assistant secretary-general of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Sindiso Ngwenya notes that AGOA has done little to advance African agriculture. Ngwenya discloses that part of the problem lies in the restrictions the U.S. places on farm imports from COMESA countries.

The article reports that British Prime Minister Tony Blair had set up the Africa Progress Panel because of his concern that the Group of 8 nations might backslide on its commitments. The panel will maintain the international political profile of Africa achieved in 2005 by producing an annual report for the G8, United Nations and the Africa Partnership Forum. The panel will be chaired by U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan. The G8 will meet in Russia on July 15-17, 2006.