It's a June night in Kinshasa, and rapper JB Mpiana's weekly VIP bash is just starting to heat up. Toned groupies splash like mermaids in a sunken pool. Middle-aged businessmen perch on the ledge above to watch. A minute before midnight, JB runs onstage among a huge posse of gyrating dancers in sunglasses. He rips into some of his biggest hits; a bombastic performer, he glides across the stage with a beefy grace, dressed in a hunter-orange jumpsuit and matching cap.

His integration into American life was helped by a group of Ethiopians, who invited him to join their game of football at a local park. He would meet them again at Jefferson High School, where his journey to MLS would begin in earnest.

Congolese music giant Pascal Tabu Ley Rochereau is in Kinshasa to accept an award for his contribution to the country's rich heritage and cultural diplomacy. The performer, whose popular hits like Muzina, Maze and Sorozo rocked millions of fans in Africa, is a celebrated musician, whose songs continue to enjoy airplay years after they were

For the first time in its history, U.S. Embassy Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo took part in the SportsUnited Sports Envoy program....NBA representative Chris Clunie spent August 25-31 teaching over 250 Congolese youth basketball skills, as well as the importance of working together, open communication, and building a sense of self and community-awareness.

Using sports as a means to build stronger people-to-people connections and empower young people worldwide, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced today that NBA legends...will travel to Africa as sports envoys

The Democratic Republic of the Congo doesn’t have any aircraft specifically to use for medical evacuations. But if the African nation needs to quickly move patients, its airmen will do it American-style.

"I was struck by how [the SFCG] overlaps so much with the stated articulated mantra of U.S. Africa Command in terms of sustained engagement," said Holmes. "The first item in the approach is making long term commitments using an integrated approach, becoming engaged in order to see the possibilities, become immersed in local culture.

Ask many Americans to name the bloodiest war since World War II and chances are that most would not know the answer. If you told them it was in Africa, they might guess Rwanda or the ongoing conflict in Sudan. They'd be wrong. By far, the deadliest conflict was in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1998 to 2003.