A week-long trip of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) to Ethiopia, South Sudan and Nigeria has resulted in valuable programming and distribution agreements. At a town hall meeting in Nigeria yesterday, the Broadcasting Board of Governors launched the VOA Africa Health Network. The Network will help address the health and developmental needs of audiences across Africa.

After nearly a week of public diplomacy and outreach in Africa, U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and her family went on safari on Saturday and had an encounter with an elephant.

...the approach adopted by El-Arabi in pursuing this renewed focus on Africa, as well as the public diplomacy initiatives launched by Egypt post-revolution, had much greater credibility.

It's a country known for its stunning safari landscapes, long beaches and towering Mount Kilimanjaro. And according to documentary film-maker Nick Broomfield -- Tanzania is also the perfect natural film set. But though it has its own film festival, Zanzibar is paradoxically without a cinema. Broomfield is pledging his support for the renovation of a dilapidated art deco cinema in Stone Town.

Senior officials from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) begin talks in China this week to find investors in agriculture, industry and roads and other physical infrastructure. Some groups have expressed concern that increased investment will only benefit the Asian giants and African elites.

Three members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, Dana Perino, Susan McCue, and Michael Meehan, will visit Ethiopia, South Sudan and Nigeria to broaden the Voice of America's reach and impact in Africa. Board members will meet with high-ranking government officials, VOA journalists and broadcasting affiliates to address challenges and opportunities in the region.

Dominic Deng Diing, who escaped the violence in Sudan, raises funds to help schoolchildren there. More than 3,000 children in South Sudan attend the two-year-old New Hope Primary School, a project of Diing's Buffalo-based nonprofit group Aid and Care for Africa.