I would like to respond on comments made so far and offer my suggestions on the location of the Mandela Institute, which is being debated:

It is most likely to be true that most people would believe that no one African country dominates on political incompetence and that the whole continent is known to be rife with the problem of relative backwardness in other areas as well. For this reason, I would therefore suggest that it would be appropriate that all countries in Africa benefit from the message that, a meaningful center of learning like the proposed Mandela Institute intends to convey. 
I would like to suggest a Mantra that perhaps could used to decide on an appropriate location for such a momentous institute, which has the likelihood of affecting the continent as a whole and be remembered for time immemorial. I would like to suggest the creation of a permanent territorial landmark of 'No mans Land' at the axis of the African continent. After all Abuja (FCT) itself was developed in a similar fashion. At this axis of Africa no one country can lay claim to its ownership or rule over it perpetually as some have done in their indigenous countries.  Not only will important institutes of various purposes be established there but relevant events could also be held and enshrined for historical purposes. This midpoint could also be seen as the point at which Africa in its diversity becomes united as one; a haven where all Africans become citizens in purpose for the betterment of Africa.   The entire environment itself could symbolize an environment where all of Africa learns more about itself.
With regard to the development of technology, I would like to refer to the noble prize winning Amartya Sen who had said, "Development without political freedom is meaningless". All obstacles and impediments must first be removed for any meaningful development to take place. Amartya Sen's theory as you know has been adopted by the United Nations to measure human development index (HDI) in countries today.

This forum has certainly been producing some good commentaries on how to move Africa forward. We should in addition emphasize on finding ways of suggesting to our leaders how tangible action can be applied following the good materials that have been presented. For once like many others, I have never doubted the availability of ideas or ability in Africa. We have more than enough. The will to act is one of the areas where I believe more attention should be paid for improvement, otherwise all these great and meaningful suggestions like the ones that are coming out of this forum will once again be wasted.