The remarks by  Russia's foreign minister, Walid Muallem while meeting his Syrian counterpart to assess the Damascus crisis ought to make Africa re-think its values and priorities. The current inroads made by China, India and Brazil among other emerging economies offer Africans a wider menu. Africa ought to capitalize on this knowledge and invest in its capabilities. India and China, still developing countries, have not opted to surrender to "know-it-all" bureaucrats from Western Capitals. Rather, they listen to them but make their own decisions in consultation with their Diaspora.

The BRIC countries, apart from widening Africa’s developmental menu, pose a challenge to Africa to reflect on whether the status of running continental affairs as 54 separate "chiefdoms" puts it at an advantage or disadvantage against emerging powers. Africans must take proactive steps to reflect and facilitate informed engagement – with background knowledge that "the world is not only the European Union and the United States," as was aptly stated by Mr Walid Muallem.

For over a century, Africa Africa’s perceptions have been shaped by former colonial masters and the so called “international community,” a euphemism for Europe and United States of America. The stark reality is that Africa's relation with its old European allies has little changed the continent in terms of transforming its economies from "nature" driven to "knowledge" driven. Africa must creatively harness the wide menu, which includes the West to spur productivity for the benefit of African citizenry.