A friend asked me, do I believe that African Americans play a major role in the development of West Africa. When he say “play a major role in the development…” I think of the development of roads and infrastructure, major real estate projects or major manufacturing companies that create jobs. In that sense, no I don’t think African American play a major role in the development of West Africa. To my knowledge, there are no major projects or undertakings of any kind that African Americans have initiated or sponsored in West Africa. I wish that was not the case, but as far as I know that is the case, that is no major African-American development in West Africa. Yes, many African-Americans do visit West Africa and perhaps many purchase traditional clothing and artifacts to sell here in the U.S., but these efforts I don’t believe have the major impact in Africa that many want to see. You know, there is a “Light Up Nigeria” project going on now, where many individuals in Nigeria and from Nigeria are trying to do what they can to improve the electrical power delivery in Nigeria. If I may say, in Nigeria, the largest African country in terms of people, you can probably find a sampling of all the problems in Africa. So we need some way to light up almost every thing in Nigeria and in many other African countries. Yes, we Africans in the Diaspora (African Americans and Africans from Africa) here in the U.S have a huge amount of income or buying power, as estimated 1.2 Trillion or more. We also have a huge amount of academic knowledge in many fields. Indeed I really can imagine what West Africa, and other parts of Africa would look like and be like, in terms of meeting all the needs of the people in West, East and Southern Africa, where primarily Black Africans live. But it is only an imagination and I have difficulty seeing how that can become a reality given all we face. Let’s be frank, Northern Africa, From Egypt to Morocco is Arabic Muslims who don’t consider themselves African, as those south of the Sahara and they have their own concerns. Even some otherwise Black Africans (African-Americans included), find it difficult to identify with and work with other Black Africans, because they are so dedicated to their own local culture and outlooks, that they can’t see the bigger picture of the need for continental unity or togetherness, or unity and togetherness between Africans in Africa and those in the Diaspora (i.e. the U.S. Caribbean Islands, Europe, etc). While I recognize there are many efforts by many people in and outside of Africa to improve conditions in many of the country there. And some of these efforts have had some success. But still the vast majority of African people live in situations and conditions far less than what we would like. While I am thinking of the conditions of our people in all of Black Africa, I also think of the conditions of people in the Caribbean Island nations populated primarily by people of African descent, and of African American in undesirable conditions here in the United States. I often ask myself how we can as a people, identify and address the myriad of problems we face. It seems that on top of the problems steaming from colonialism and slavery, we are today being pulled in so many different directions, by so many others, that we can’t, as a people agree on and focus on our major problems and devise comprehensive solutions, that with some modifications, could be used to solve problems all over Black Africa, the Caribbean Islands, and in Black America. So, my wish is that some how some way the best and brightest of us, in Africa, the Caribbeans, America, Europe, etc. could put their heads together to develop comprehensive solutions for all our major problems. But it seems we are our own worst enemies, with rampant ignorance, mistrust, hatred, tribalism, selfishness, and the list goes on. Maybe it a matter of  seeing the cup half empty or half full, but as a practical matter relative to the suffering of African people, I rather concentrate on the half empty part of our dreams unfulfilled. So my questions to you is what is THE biggest problems facing African people everywhere in the world? What are some specific problems facing African people in some specific places. What would you suggest as a way to solve these problems?