In an interview with Reuters, he also said he hoped to take charge of a national team or a top club in the future, and thought they if they qualify for the finals, African champions Egypt and the Ivory Coast had the best chance of making an impact in next year's tournament.
Desailly, 40, who retired as a player three years ago after winning both the World Cup and the European Cup in a glittering career, said that African footbal had reached a turning point in its history with this month's Confederations Cup and next year's World Cup being staged in South Africa.
"The key to the future of African football is not the players we all know about now like Didier Drogba or Samuel Eto'o who have succeeded abroad, but how to improve the level of their own leagues by keeping their top young players in their own countries for longer." he said.
"It is going to be hard to change though. The best players will always go to Europe and it will be always be difficult to make them stay at home.
"But if the infrastructure was better, they could be persuaded to stay longer and not leave at such an early age.
"We are at a key moment in football for Africa and it is a chance that must not be allowed to slip. Maybe the legacy of the World Cup would be to change the thinking in Africa."
He said that Ivory Coast and Egypt were likely to do well in next year's finals, as long as they qualified, but could not understand why Egypt had made such a poor start in their qualifying group with a draw and a defeat from their opening two matches.
"Look at the way Egypt have played here, they nearly drew with Brazil and they beat the world champions Italy, showing that technically and physically they can complete with the best teams.
"They remind me of Greece, who won the Euros in 2004. That was a team that worked together and we've seen Egypt do that here."
"It is a different thing with Bafana Bafana, they are at a different level at the moment."
"Football can take you anywhere, to any country in the world and you have to be prepared to go for the jobs," he said.
"I don't want to say where I could go, but I would like to start with a top team in a top league like England or France, or a national team.
"But I know it is not easy, look at Alan Shearer for example, it is very tough. But I think I will be ready to go back into that crazy world again soon."
