The United States military command for Africa (Africom) is gaining acceptance on the continent and is planning to increase its support for the African Union force in Somalia, the command's leader said last week.

AFRICOM, with headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, was launched with great fanfare in 2007 as the first and only military regional command that would focus primarily on “soft power” and include a heavy mix of civilians in its ranks.

The African Union has reportedly named famous African politicians, musicians, and Nobel laureates as special ambassadors to promote the AU’s peace efforts across the continent.

The U.S. government seems to have changed tack by engaging young people to find tech solutions to problems affecting the East Africa region. Previously, the U.S. government primarily used the USAID agency to pursue sustainable solutions...

There is plenty to be said for the strong Dutch team at the World Cup in South Africa...With a long history built around their “Total Football” style of play, they’re probably the most talented nation never to win a World Cup final. But considering the Dutch role in Apartheid, would the Dutch winning in South Africa be bittersweet?

Around 1987, I noticed a funny thing about aerial photos of African villages: they look a lot like fractals, the repetitive shapes from computer graphics. Rectangular architecture had nested rectangles within; circular houses were in circles of circles, sometimes down to very small scales. A Fulbright fellowship gave me a year of travel in west and central Africa...

Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni has held trade and investment talks with the visiting United States Under-Secretary for Public Affairs and Diplomacy in the American State Department Ms. Judith McHale.

A June 28–29 symposium in Uganda organized by the U.S. telecom firm Verizon Communications and other planning partners is an effort to help improve East Africa’s Internet links with the rest of the world...Overall, the conference hopes to connect education, communication and government and spur a dialogue to move forward and use the Internet to promote greater economic growth and development across East Africa, she said.