With the International Olympic Committee (IOC) set to have chosen Paris over Los Angeles as the site for the 2024 Olympics, it is timely to ask: Is hosting the Olympics good for a nation’s brand, and do they provide a good financial return on investment? [...] He also noted that the concept of nation-branding pervaded China’s handling of the 2008 Beijing games. “In China their goal was broad recognition as a leader on the global stage.” He said that China was largely successful, but that in terms of political reputation, the country was thrown into a negative light.

Brand South Africa in collaboration with the Gauteng Department of Economic Development, will host various stakeholders ... as part of its workshop to build South Africa’s competitiveness and a cohesive image of the South African Nation Brand. Government asserts that; “the Nation Brand alignment workshops are a critical part of achieving coordinated and coherent manner of presenting the country. This year we aim to further drive these conversations... making it inclusive and diverse with the core message, to build a strong Nation Branding.”

The 4th “transatlantic dialogue” took place at the University of Luxembourg on Campus Belval in Esch-sur-Alzette. The theme was “creating human bonds through cultural diplomacy”. 320 attendees and 100 cultural actors from Europe, the United States, Mexico, Japan, South Africa and Saudi Arabia discussed and performed around the notion on how cultural diplomacy has a vital role to play in international relations.In 55 discussions and workshops, participants studied inter-sectionalism and common bonds; and how to bridge differences by understanding cultural identities. 

The ANC has adopted as its official position an intelligence report that claims Western imperialist powers are working through opposition parties, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) and campaigns such as #ZumaMustFall to bring about “regime change” in countries including South Africa. The report lists “#tag campaigns on social media, such as #ZumaMustFall and #FeesMustFall”, as being among the “soft power” tactics used to advance the cause of regime change in the region.

The first Africa Business Summit of NRI forum Gopio began with a call to diaspora Indians to help develop the economies of their own countries and India, using resources they have built over the decades. The three-day summit in Durban organised by Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin (Gopio), a non-profit global movement to fight human rights violation of overseas Indians, has brought together 200 delegates from across the globe. [...] It's known that "Indians at all levels continue to set an example and play a role in uplifting the countries where they find themselves." 

The Nigerian government on Friday said it aims to launch "cultural diplomacy" with the South African government to end incessant xenophobic attacks on citizens of the west African nation in that country.[...]More than 100 citizens of Nigeria had been killed or injured in xenophobic attacks across South Africa since 2013, according to the Nigerian government. The government spokesman said cultural diplomacy was an effective tool that would end xenophobia and strengthen the understanding between the two countries.