Senior leaders representing 17 African national militaries came together with their American counterparts here this week to better understand U.S. Africa Command and to help in developing the noncommissioned officers corps in their nations.

Many around the world see Africa as a monolith and through the prism of media and film which paint a decidedly negative picture. Google images of Rwanda show stark photos of starving orphaned children, mass slaughter and extreme deprivation.

"We will reach out to most of Africa that has not been significantly touched by our economic diplomacy in recent decades," the official said. India will announce a joint study group to explore modalities for an FTA with Comesa, which is home to half-a-billion Africans and has an annual trade basket of over $300 billion.

Castoff American t-shirts, which have flooded African markets for years, are starting to trickle back to the United States as part of a non-profit initiative spearheaded by two young American social entrepreneurs. This supports local markets in places like Kenya while supporting non-profits.

Returning home from a Saturday afternoon walk with the dog, I did what has become almost a reflex action and checked Twitter. Bizarrely, there was the president of Rwanda having a go at me over disparaging comments I had made about an interview he gave that morning.

At the conference, Schwartz stressed the need to build long-term partnerships that would prevent low-intensity conflicts from becoming “larger-scale crises that we must confront.”

This feeling of mutually beneficial strategic cooperation rather than exploitation is the result of longstanding Chinese educational and investment projects in Africa.

Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith A. McHale is traveling to South Africa and Senegal May 5-13, 2011, to highlight the important role of young Africans in shaping the future of their continent.