Thirty years ago this month, the first cases of what was to become known as AIDS were diagnosed. The World Health Organization estimates that more than 25 million persons have died from AIDS. More than 60 million people have been infected, and in southern Africa alone there are 14 million children orphaned because of AIDS.

"...Building on Microsoft's support to NGOs around the world, the Microsoft NGO Connection Day Nigeria 2011 will help fill a huge gap that will improve organizational efficiency while also helping many non-profits save cost," PIN's Executive Director, Mr. 'Gbenga Sesan, said.

I’ve been tracking elements of China’s complicated and ambitious policy of expanding its information sphere to a possibly waiting world. In late May, I heard Dr. Hu Zhengrong, one of China’s most distinguished ambassadors to the international academic world, give a talk on this “going out” policy to the International Communications Association in Boston.

Africa – once considered the lab for Chinese companies’ reach outside - is being relegated into a destination with too many risk factors. Safer political destinations and countries closer to home are likely to benefit from the shift. The readjustment has been in the works for some time but the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya have made those subtle shifts more pronounced.

U.S. companies' game of catch-up shows the perils of waking up late to the next big frontier market, Africa. The continent's economy is forecast to grow to $2.6 trillion in 2020. While most U.S. companies focused on Asia and Latin America, China was leapfrogging America in Africa.

I would introduce another working definition that culture is observable worship or work. It is the sum total of the core beliefs expressed through action of one’s perception of reality... Using the above as a platform, the nearly missed opportunity of cultural exchange of the African reality this year is plausibly understandable.

Dismissed as low-grade by most Westerners, Nollywood productions are very successful across English-speaking Africa. They are in stark contrast to “embassy films,” African-made movies financed by the French government that rarely reach African audiences.

China's strength lies in its deep pockets, which are said to have helped it swing deals in its favor. India's advantage lies in public goodwill and Delhi hopes that this and its soft power strategy will help it build sustainable partnerships in Africa.