Tawana M. Tibbs hardly considers herself a philanthropist. “I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing in the community,” says Tibbs, whose passion for having a positive impact on the lives of young people fuels her service to her community.

 More than just a few professional athletes take seriously the notion of “giving back” to their community. Some raise money for charitable causes in their off-season by playing sports other than their own, golf and softball being the most common of these off-season outings. But in an age when bad behavior dominates news about the activities of Black sports celebrities off the field, the efforts of those who seek to uplift the lives of others seldom make headlines.

 India is expanding its footprint in Africa so aggressively that a mighty buzz has arisen about Sino-Indian rivalry for influence on the continent. On the face of it, India and China are not in the same league when it comes to trade with Africa. While India’s two-way trade with Africa soared from about $1 billion in 2001 to $46 billion in 2010, it is eclipsed by China’s, which surpassed $120 billion in 2010. Still, officials in both countries were forced to respond to talk of rivalry after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in May offered $5 billion in loans to help Africa meet its development goals, $700 million for new institutions and training programs, and another $300 million line of credit for a new rail line between Ethiopia and Djibouti. Singh announced the loans at the second India-Africa Summit, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They follow a $5.4 billion credit pledge at the first India-Africa Summit in 2008.

 As soon as you recover from filing this year’s tax return, do the following:

1. Organize your files.
Get a manila folder, label it “2011 Tax Stuff,” and fill it with white file folders. Now, get your tax return. Go down the list of income items and deductions (a tax return is nothing more than a complicated income statement when you get right down to brass tacks),

Let’s say you have a great idea for starting a new business in Africa, but you’re not sure which country offers the best opportunity. You want an easy way to compare different countries in terms of the costs and ease of doing business. You want information about

Business travel isn’t what it used to be. Those spacious first-class seats have given way to super-saver cattle-grade seating and the notable features of most in-flight meals are the large prices and the small portions. Baggage charges, once unheard of, are here to stay and provide irritating