ADDIS ABABA, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- The African leaders on Tuesday declared the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) as their top priority at the end of the three- day 14th summit of the African Union (AU).

In a declaration, the African leaders requested the African Union Commission to set an African digital agenda identifying the main stages.

The African leaders asked the commission to develop a coherent and integrated approach and a coordination mechanism involving the key African stakeholders and development partners for the implementation and follow up on this declaration.

They promised to intensify the activities to implement the Reference Framework for Harmonization of Telecommunications and ICT Policies and Regulations in Africa and act for the development of postal sector as well as the African Regional Action plan on the knowledge economy.

The African leaders said they would strengthen national programs and regional cooperation for the development and interconnection of broadband structures, the development of Regional Internet Exchange Points and the improvement of rural area connectivity.

They also pledged to develop programs and actions on training, acquisition of basic competences in ICT and on capacity building, particularly for national and regional regulatory organs, promote research and development actions to create a favorable regulatory environment.

They urged the development partners, especially financing institutions, to back the implementation of this declaration.

The three-day 14th summit of AU was held under the theme "Information and Communication Technologies in Africa: Challenges and prospects for Development".

Thank to the great efforts from the African governments, ICT development in the region has been featured by high grow with the number of mobile cellular subscriptions and Internet users growing faster than in other regions in the world.

Despite the fast growth, Africa's ICT penetration levels are still far behind the rest of the world, with very few countries in the continent reaching ICT levels comparable to global averages.