In fact, the China Cultural Center in Benin has designed a variety of classes for Beninese who are particularly enthusiastic about Chinese culture, including teaching them the Chinese language. Since the China Cultural Center opened in 1988 in Cotonou, it has been serving as a platform for the Beninese people and other Africans to deepen their understanding of China.

It is important for us to borrow from the rich cultural content of Africa, for us to reposition Africa and ensure that culture is not only a tool of diplomacy, but that we also can deploy it to achieve economic as well as the Millennium Development goals for the continent.

I had an opportunity to visit Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe in November 2011. As I traveled from north to south on the African continent, I was able to take a close look at African culture. The trip convinced me that Africa is not a "cultural desert" as some have claimed, but an oasis steeped in culture.

In Africa, the relationship between the Dutch business community and Dutch embassies seems to be out of synch. In fact, some Dutch businesspeople are dissatisfied. This became clear at Thursday's seminar organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Netherlands-African Business Council (NABC) in The Hague.

Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton will welcome more than sixty young African leaders to the Innovation Summit and Mentoring Partnership, a three-week professional development program by the U.S. government...Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Tara Sonenshine will keynote a reception.

Shared histories, similar cultures and aspirations link India and Africa together. Launched in 2011, 'INDIAFRICA : A Shared Future' is a people-to-people initiative between India and the African continent.

Stepping up its diplomatic footprints in energy-rich Central Asia, India is set to replicate the success of the Pan Africa e-network by creating a similar project of tele-education and tele-medicine that will span all the states of the strategically important region.

Continuing their blistering critique, diplomats vented that Brasilia was merely interested in currying favour amongst African nations so as to shore up its own bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. Brazil...was "more concerned with counting heads for UNSC reform... than in being a champion of Africa's interests, supporting African peacekeeping or augmenting trade."