China’s insistence on treating investment strictly as a government-to-government affair, ignoring the sentiments of inhabitants on the ground, could undermine this. Its refusal to acknowledge public opinion on a continent where mass political consciousness is awakening could cost it dearly in the long run.

Cultural activists, cultural workers, researchers and policymakers from Mali and Algeria to Singapore, and Limpopo to Cape Town, gathered in Joburg recently for the much-anticipated Diversity Conference.

The meeting resulted in the creation of the Wanning Declaration, a document viewed as a milestone in public diplomacy between China and Africa. The declaration underscored the agreement made between China and African nations to enhance Sino-African cooperation...

It seems to me, whether it’s called soft power or smart power, it’s a very wise thing to do to invest in development, and it’s very short-sighted to not see the link between our national security and what’s going on anywhere in the world.

"Emphasis is to increase the leisure market and position Rwanda as a major leisure destination. We have done a good job in branding Rwanda as a safe destination, so now we need to talk more about leisure," observed Rica Rwigamba, the Head of Tourism and Conservation at RDB.

Leaders such as Pires and Chissano, however, tended to understand Americans better than Americans understood them. They sought and won help from non-official America that demonstrated by their actions that America...was indeed a small “d” democracy in which millions free persons could make their own political choices to support justice in Africa.

U.S. embassies in Africa have created new models for public diplomacy, models which are already producing significant advances. Wharton... described the “Kampala model” of public diplomacy...at the U.S. Embassy in Uganda, according to the Secretary, PD is in the lead.

China’s state-owned broadcaster has launched an aggressive international push to extend the country’s influence, opening a new headquarters in Washington that will broadcast English-language programming from the heart of the US capital. CCTV has also built a studio facility in Nairobi...and plans to open a broadcasting centre in Europe.