In the long term and in the changing global landscape, African Exchange will serves as a means of mobilizing the vast intellectual capital and resources to achieve a higher overall level of development and service to Africa. In spite of the thin boundaries that divide and box Africans into different socio-political systems, we, in the UN system, cannot afford to adopt individualistic stance and watch other races networking for effective role in the international system.

The intellectual capital brought into the UN system by Africans is enormous. The exportation of this intellectual capital to the UN system can be a loss to our countries without a corresponding mechanism to recycle and roll back the knowledge to Africa in the form of vital information sharing. Decision makers in Africa need a reliable source of information about the UN when taking decisions relating to the UN global mandate. We in the UN system are the natural nexus between the UN organizations and the countries of Africa.

The African Exchange is a forum for African experts in the UN system to write about different issues affecting Africa in particular and the world at large. It serves, therefore, as a single "information shopping centre" for African leaders, politicians, business people, educators, students, current and retired UN employees and all other people around the world interested in the activities of the UN in Africa.