Miller Matola, CEO of Brand South Africa, says since 1994, South Africa has continued to exceed expectations in keeping its regulatory and financial environments sustainable and on par with the rest of the world.

Everybody’s trying to rebrand Africa, and it isn’t going so well. Vogue Italia’s latest issue... is called “Rebranding Africa”, and as you’d expect the whole thing is an embarrassing and insulting shambles. The images are okay, but otherwise it feels like something a middle-schooler cobbled together for a class project. And then got a “D” for it.

These “Three Ts” don’t account for all of the changes which are transforming diplomatic practice in the 21st century. But they do go some the way towards providing an explanation of why so many governments are placing an increased reliance upon public diplomacy and branding to advance their international agendas.

In the previous three entries in this series I have tried to compare and contrast various aspects of public diplomacy

Canada’s brand could also be enhanced by associating with iconic, highly visible projects in Asian countries. For example, Ottawa should push to achieve partner-country status for the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, Asia’s largest building project (Japan is already there). It’s also time to revisit the argument to build a Sovereign Wealth Fund by pooling our resource rents.

China urgently needs to carry out more effective public diplomacy if it is to overcome the misunderstandings, prejudice and suspicions that people in other countries have toward it. Public diplomacy is an indispensable part of a country's approach to foreign relations as well as an important supplement to its traditional diplomacy. Effective public diplomacy is essential if a nation is to promote its national interests and achieve its foreign policy objectives.

Kenya has been ranked among the top ten African brands by global valuation consultancy organization Brand Finance, in its latest survey which measures the impact of a country's reputation and image on investors.

Both writers state that irrespective of what the world media has to say, true soft power is only gained by actions - by what these countries individually do. No amount of branding exercise can help their image if not backed by actions.