New procedures have been put in place by the African Union in a bid to renegotiate the "African Growth and Opportunity Act".

The Act, which was made legislation in May 2000 as part of the Trade and Development Act 2000, offers tangible incentives for African countries to continue their efforts to open their economies and build free markets.

The Executive Council of the AU, which ended its three-day long session in Sippo station, Equatorial Guinea, one day before the start of the 23rd Summit, elected 16 countries to be in the committee.

Algeria, Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Kenya, Libya, Tunisia, Mauritania, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, the `South Africa` s Uganda and Zambia have been delegated to develop a common African position.

On the eve of the U.S. – Africa Summit, on Wednesday, President Barack Obama announced a plan to try and support trade with Africa through using American public funds to finance investments in Africa.

However, the foreign ministers of the countries of the AU want a more detailed plan and have appealed to the United States to stop its continued emphasis on exports of finished products as Africa has not yet fully developed its industries.