African leaders gather Saturday in Addis Ababa for an annual summit, aiming to jumpstart a faltering trade deal while also focusing on the continent's most pressing challenges, including armed conflict and a worsening food crisis.
As the continent reels from a record drought in the Horn of Africa and deadly violence in the Sahel region and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the two-day African Union (AU) meeting will look to address these issues and accelerate a free-trade pact launched in 2020.
