The 15th Africa Festival Potsdam lived up to its reputation as one of Brandenburg’s most vibrant multicultural events, drawing people from across the region for a day of music, food, dance and cultural exchange. Held last weekend, the festival transformed the city into a lively meeting place where Africans, Germans and members of other migrant communities celebrated diversity and the …

The European Union has tightened its short-stay visa policy for Guinean nationals, accusing the West African country of failing to cooperate in taking back citizens who are staying irregularly in EU member states. The move marks the first time Guinea has been subjected to such measures under the EU’s visa leverage mechanism and signals Brussels’ growing willingness to use visa …

Europe has reached a demographic turning point. According to the European Commission’s latest Demography Report 2026, the continent’s population has reached its peak and will begin to decline in the coming decades. The report concludes that without immigration, the European Union’s population would shrink by around 130 million people by 2100, highlighting the crucial role migration plays in sustaining Europe’s …

More than a year after 21-year-old Afro-German Lorenz A. was shot dead by a police officer in Oldenburg, the city’s regional court (Landgericht Oldenburg) has formally admitted charges of negligent homicide against the officer involved, clearing the way for a criminal trial. The court decision marks a significant step in a case that has become a focal point in Germany’s …

Nigeria has finally resolved a technical fault that caused some of its electronic passports to fail verification at foreign border checkpoints The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has announced that all of the country’s digital certificates used to verify the authenticity of e-passports have been successfully uploaded to the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Public Key Directory (ICAO PKD). The process was …

Why the attacks on Kylian Mbappé reveal the persistence of colonial stereotypes in international football, writes Dr Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana* in this opinion piece Every FIFA World Cup reminds us that football has the power to unite people across continents, cultures and languages. Yet the 2026 tournament has also revealed something far less inspiring: the persistence of colonial stereotypes in the …

The Nollywood Film Festival Germany returns to Frankfurt from 31 July to 1 August 2026, bringing together filmmakers, actors, musicians, entrepreneurs and fans of African cinema for two days celebrating one of the world’s fastest-growing film industries. Combining film screenings, live entertainment and the prestigious Nollywood Europe Golden Awards (NEGA), the event aims to strengthen cultural ties between Africa and …

The Interview That Became a Debate By Collins Nweke When I accepted an invitation for a live interview on News Central TV — an independent 24-hour news channel based in Lagos that focuses on Nigerian and African affairs — I expected my usual engaging conversation with a team of three brilliant anchors. But within minutes of going live, it became …

Germany’s independent Federal Police Commissioner, Uli Grötsch, this week presented his first annual report to Bundestag President Julia Klöckner — and the findings make for uncomfortable reading. In the twelve months covered by the report, Grötsch, whose office was appointed by the Bundestag to oversee the work of the Federal Police, received 279 submissions from members of the public. The …

A 40 percent cut to language course funding and an 80 percent reduction in independent asylum counselling services signal a sharp shift in Germany’s approach to newcomers Germany’s federal government is planning major cuts to integration programmes next year, significantly reducing funding for language courses and independent asylum counselling despite continued demand for both services. According to the draft 2027 …

Germany recorded a sharp decline in irregular border crossings during the first six months of 2026, according to new figures released by the Federal Police, suggesting that tighter border controls and stricter migration policies are having an impact. At the same time, a recent court ruling has raised fresh legal questions about the government’s border enforcement measures. Germany’s Federal Police …

Germany’s drive to recruit international talent is gathering pace. New figures show that reforms to immigration rules are bringing increasing numbers of skilled professionals from non-EU countries to help fill critical labour shortages. Since the Skilled Immigration Act came into force in 2020, around 765,000 people from non-EU countries have been granted residence permits linked to employment or skilled migration, …

As geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty reshape the global landscape, a new EU-wide survey shows that Europeans are looking increasingly to the European Union for stability, security and collective action. Nine out of ten Europeans believe EU member states should stand more united in responding to global challenges, according to the latest Eurobarometer survey commissioned by the European Parliament. The …

A new Bertelsmann Stiftung study finds that despite chronic labour shortages, thousands of qualified migrants in Germany are working far below their skill level, highlighting a costly mismatch that affects both the economy and migrant communities. For Africans among the country’s 5.9 million foreign workers, the findings confirm a familiar frustration. Germany urgently needs skilled workers, yet a new study …

July 2026 ushers in a wide-ranging package of legal and policy changes that will affect millions of people across Germany. The reforms span key areas of everyday life, including social welfare, pensions, taxation, healthcare, consumer rights, transport and travel. While some measures will boost personal incomes or make public services easier to access, others introduce stricter rules and new responsibilities. …

From 1 July, Germany’s long-term unemployment benefit has a new name, tougher sanctions and a stricter savings rule. Here is what changes, what stays the same, and what African claimants should do now. _______ From 1 July 2026, Bürgergeld, the benefit that millions of jobseekers in Germany have received since 2023, has been replaced by Grundsicherung (Basic Income Support). For …

Germany’s Muslim population has reached between 6.6 and 7 million people, according to a new projection by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge, BAMF). This represents 8.0 to 8.5 percent of the total population, a figure that challenges persistent public misperceptions, with surveys consistently showing that Germans dramatically overestimate the actual proportion of Muslims …

By Collins Nweke On a recent evening in Brussels, I had the privilege of delivering the keynote address at the launch of The City He Never Returned To, a remarkable new novel by a Nigerian-born Belgian writer, Ibekwe Paul Chukwuemeka. The book is ostensibly about the Nigerian Civil War, memory, healing and national repair. But as I reflected afterwards, I …

Refugee and asylum-seeking children in Germany are now entitled to significantly better healthcare, following changes that took effect on 12 June under the implementation of the European Union’s new asylum system. __________ While much of the EU’s Common European Asylum System (GEAS) introduces stricter border procedures and faster asylum processing, one aspect of the reform brings a clear benefit for …

In a judgment delivered on 11 June 2026, a Berlin court awarded financial compensation to a Black German man after finding that he had been subjected to racial discrimination during a police identity check. The ruling is seen as an important application of Berlin’s State Anti-Discrimination Act _______ A Berlin court has ordered the state to pay €500 in compensation …