It is not hard to outshine the West in Africa, given the horrifying record of Western nations there. As I have documented in my Monitor article “The Ravaging of Africa” (October 2002) and the radio documentary of the same title (2007), U.S. imperial strategy towards Africa has devastated the continent.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the African Union - formerly the Organisation of African Unity, BBC World Service listeners suggested the African songs that summed up the continent to them.

Botswana is positioning itself to be the next big economic powerhouse in Africa. This was the sentiment expressed at the launch of the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre’s brand strategy at the Michelangelo Hotel in Johannesburg on Tuesday, 21 May.

DOHA, Qatar --- News from the Middle East is dominated by conflict, whether the stories come from Syria, Libya, Iraq, or other states in the region. Blood is plentiful; hope is scarce. But beyond the lurid viciousness that dominates daily journalism are long-term challenges to the region’s future that are impervious to solutions that rely on the weaponry of conflict. The resolve and creativity with which Arab leaders and publics address these matters, as well as their local wars, will shape the lives of coming generations.

India wants increased partnership with Nigeria in education through institutional cooperation, content development, faculty exchange and joint ventures that would enhance the West African country's human resource devlopment, according to Indian High Commissioner Mahesh Sachdev.

Looking back over 50 years of the Union, 'cultural diplomacy' has a greater chance of creating understanding between peoples than what I will call for the purposes of this article, 'conventional diplomacy'. As such, over the next 50 years, we should throw down the challenge to the AU to put cultural diplomacy at the top of its agenda.

US President Barack Obama will visit Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania in June, the White House has said. Mr Obama is expected to meet lawmakers as well as business and civil society leaders and youth on his trip.

The government is considering posting dedicated cultural attaches at South Africa's missions abroad, Arts and Culture Minister Paul Mashatile said on Thursday. “Culture has now become the soft power of nations,” Mashatile said in his budget vote speech in the National Assembly, before detailing cultural exchanges with France and Britain.