About Richard Attias: Richard Attias is a Moroccan events producer, founder and former chairman of PublicisLive and presently the executive chairman of Richard Attias and Associates, and the founder of The New York Forum.
When kids are young, before the age of ten, there is a critical window of opportunity when their habits and motivations can be influenced.
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.
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.
It is my firm belief that action on the issues that matter for Africa must emerge from within Africa itself.
Obesity is a problem that nearly every nation in the world is facing, but there is much that we can do to fix it.
The symbolic significance of individual athletes' achievements has sometimes proved more productive than the negotiations of diplomats or politicians.
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.
Even an unsuccessful Olympic bid can be the source of change within a city if organizers adhere to their vision.
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?
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.
Sport is a great equalizer that can build bridges, transcend borders and cultures, and render even the fiercest conflicts temporarily irrelevant.
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.
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 or...
Sport is one of the few spaces where people can learn about different cultures in a spirit of trust and friendship.
The cost of infrastructure development to host a mega-event can be offset against economic growth over future decades.
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.
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.
In the organization of any major sporting event or the planning of a building, long-term thinking is key.
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.
