Sport is a great equalizer that can build bridges, transcend borders and cultures, and render even the fiercest conflicts temporarily irrelevant.
Richard Attias
What the Olympics and other mega-events have shown is that the significant investment required to host an international games successfully has the power to transform a region, and even a nation.
Sport is one of the few spaces where people can learn about different cultures in a spirit of trust and friendship.
Global sports tournaments have a range of benefits that go far beyond the games themselves. They can transform the image of a country or a region. They bring people together and reveal new possibilities to a nation's youth.
Africa's informal economy is one of the most innovative and inventive environments in the world. Yet it is an environment with little regulation in which workers are often exposed to hard conditions and live without a safety net.
Obesity is a problem that nearly every nation in the world is facing, but there is much that we can do to fix it.
Sporting achievements bestow a sense of unification on the cultures and societies in which they take place and create an outpouring of nationalism and pride.
Improving Africa's farming sector would have multiple positive outcomes for African people.
For African societies, no issue looms larger than employment. Only vibrant entrepreneurship and thriving small businesses can hope to provide the millions of jobs that are needed.
In the organization of any major sporting event or the planning of a building, long-term thinking is key.
Sport is and should remain a great school of life that supports young people in their personal development. It teaches respect for others and also for oneself.
As African economies boom and businesses are created, one of the big questions this growth raises is that of third-level education: how can Africa develop a knowledge infrastructure to rival that of the west, a sort of Harvard University in Africa?
Not only do African students deserve excellent universities, they deserve good elementary and secondary schools, too - and then, to have access to ongoing vocational and job training to ensure their skills remain as relevant as possible to African organizations.
It is my firm belief that action on the issues that matter for Africa must emerge from within Africa itself.
The cost of infrastructure development to host a mega-event can be offset against economic growth over future decades.
Even an unsuccessful Olympic bid can be the source of change within a city if organizers adhere to their vision.
Bringing more large sporting events to Africa would help the continent develop sports policies and at the same time optimize its peoples' chances of achieving competitive success.
Africa's agricultural sector has enormous scope for development, which would benefit both the continent's economy and its people.
The factors that have been holding farmers back are similar to those that threaten other types of growth in Africa. Infrastructure and transport are in many cases quite poor, resulting in the losses of huge amounts of produce.
Inspiration, in its rich variety, must be present in any discussion about Africa. We need role models - they are essential to the advancement of our society.
Culturally, it is commonplace for African women to work.
If women are the key to Africa's future - and I believe they are - we must figure out how to take away the barriers to their participation.
When kids are young, before the age of ten, there is a critical window of opportunity when their habits and motivations can be influenced.
Sporting events like the Olympics have developed and maintained a clear message of promoting gender equality as an essential criterion in the success of any international event.
Female success stories from sporting events like the Olympic Games have played a role in shifting the Indian perception to see the female athlete as a hero and a role model for young Indian girls.
Sport allows us to engage in dialogue and to build bridges, and it may even have the capacity to reshape international relations. The Olympic Games embody perfectly this universal mission.
The symbolic significance of individual athletes' achievements has sometimes proved more productive than the negotiations of diplomats or politicians.
