ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Terrorism is impeding free movement of people and goods, an African Union (AU) official said on Friday.

Samata Cessouma Minata, AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, said terrorism makes countries hesitant to allow free movement of people and goods across their borders.

"The issue of terrorism can't be confronted by Africa alone, it doesn't spare big and small countries and the problem is becoming serious," she said.

Minata mentioned the example of a landmine attack in Mali on Thursday which killed 24 people, with victims coming from Mali and neighboring Burkina Faso.

"We have no choice, to be a prosperous continent we should have a mechanism for free movement of people, but we need to have good security to prevent terrorists from planning cross-border terror acts," she added.

The issue of terrorism comes at a timely point for the AU as its prepares to launch three flagship projects to accelerate continental integration during its 30th summit which will conclude on Jan. 29.

The three projects are the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA), the free movement of persons and goods, and the implementation of Yamoussoukro decision on the single market and liberalization of air transport in Africa.