Plans to send some rejected asylum seekers to centres outside the EU are moving from political debate towards implementation. But serious questions remain over human rights, legal safeguards and Europe’s responsibility for people it wants to remove. Germany and four other EU countries are stepping up efforts to establish so-called “return hubs” in countries outside the European Union, with Rwanda …

Nigeria may be the country making headlines with its iDICE Skills-to-Jobs programme, but the story it tells belongs to the whole continent. From Nairobi to Dakar, Kigali to Johannesburg, Africa’s youth bulge is producing the same paradox: rising numbers of graduates and certificate-holders, and still too few pathways into real income, enterprise or productive work. Every African government wrestling with …

The United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly endorsed an African-led initiative to promote world maps that more accurately reflect the actual size of continents. For Africa, the campaign is about more than cartography: it challenges a visual representation that has shaped how generations have understood the continent’s place in the world. In a striking diplomatic victory for African states, the …

Saxony-Anhalt goes to the polls on Sunday with the AfD far ahead in the surveys. A strong result could have consequences well beyond the eastern German state – particularly for the national debate on migration and the future of Germany’s political centre. Saxony-Anhalt votes on 6 September 2026 in an election being watched closely across Germany. The far-right Alternative for …

September 2026 brings a mixture of new laws, EU rules and other regulatory changes that will affect everyday life in Germany. Some concern consumer protection and digital products, while others are relevant to employees, taxpayers and travellers. It is worth noting that not everything in this overview is technically a new law. For example, the increase in pay for temporary …

Kenyan nutritionist and social entrepreneur Wawira Njiru has been named the 2026 recipient of the German Africa Prize for turning school feeding into a model for food security, job creation and local economic development. Kenyan social innovator and nutritionist Wawira Njiru has been named the recipient of the 2026 German Africa Prize, one of Germany’s most prominent awards recognising outstanding …

Ghana says at least 62 of its citizens have been killed and 15 others remain missing after travelling to Russia and becoming involved in the war against Ukraine, prompting Accra to seek Moscow’s help in stopping what it calls the illegal recruitment of Ghanaian nationals. Ghana says 62 of its citizens have now been killed and 15 more remain missing …

Since 7 August, a temporary 25-metre open-air pool, the ‘Volksbad’, has stood outside Berlin’s Volksbühne theatre as part of an art installation by artistic director Matthias Lilienthal. Entry is free, but as at many public pools, the basin is reserved for particular groups on certain days. Each One Teach One (EOTO), a Berlin organisation supporting people of African descent, had …

Passengers travelling to the EU from outside the bloc are facing significantly longer waits at passport control following the full implementation of the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES), with African travellers among those most exposed. Travellers flying into some of Europe’s busiest hubs this summer have faced waits far longer than in previous years, as the European Union’s new Entry/Exit …

Many Nigerians living abroad know the frustration of trying to build or buy a home back in Nigeria through family members, friends or intermediaries — sometimes with disappointing and costly results. A newly launched diaspora mortgage scheme by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) aims to offer a safer, more transparent and institutional route to home ownership for Nigerians …

Nigeria has deployed a special Passport Intervention Team (PIT) to the United Kingdom to help clear a backlog of passport applications and make it easier for Nigerians in one of the country’s largest diaspora communities to get pending, new and renewed passports. The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) announced the deployment in a statement issued on Sunday, 9 August 2026. The …

South Africa has officially launched its Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system, a major overhaul of the country’s visa and entry system that is intended to make travel faster while strengthening border security. President Cyril Ramaphosa officially launched the system at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on 12 August 2026, describing the reform as part of the government’s wider programme …

When a flight is delayed, airlines routinely dismiss compensation claims with two words: “extraordinary circumstances.” Yet under EU law, this phrase is narrowly defined, and the burden of proof rests with the carrier. On Africa‑Europe routes, thousands of passengers accept refusals that wouldn’t withstand scrutiny, often forfeiting up to €600 per person. In this article, Saint‑Yves Kodjo* explains what compensation …

The 2026 World Cup will be remembered as the tournament in which a small island nation of fewer than 600,000 inhabitants compelled the world to reconsider some of its assumptions. It reminded us that, in the community of nations, greatness is determined neither by the size of a territory nor by the number of its inhabitants. Dr Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, a …

Berlin has become the last of Germany’s 16 federal states to introduce the Bezahlkarte (payment card) for asylum-seekers, ending a long-running delay and bringing the state in line with the rest of the country. From now on, newly arriving asylum-seekers in Berlin will receive their benefits on a card rather than as cash — a change that will directly affect …

Nigeria’s 2026 National Diaspora Day ended with a push to turn the expertise of Nigerian doctors and other health professionals abroad into a more permanent part of the country’s healthcare system. The two-day event, held on 24 and 25 July at the Presidential Villa in Abuja and attended virtually by Nigerians around the world, followed the government’s pre-event call for …

Germany is moving towards a wider use of artificial intelligence in asylum, visa and residence procedures, with the federal government arguing that the technology could make migration administration faster and more consistent. But the proposed rules are already raising concerns about privacy, discrimination and the risk of allowing algorithms to influence decisions about people’s lives. The federal cabinet approved a …

There’s still time to catch the best of African music and culture in Germany this summer. From lively street festivals to open-air concerts, here are the events worth making time for before the season ends. African Music Festival Emmendingen 7 – 9 August / Emmendingen, Schlossplatz The festival celebrates its 26th anniversary this year. What began as a modest gathering …

Migrants are becoming ever more central to Germany’s workforce, but many are still working well below their qualifications, and women in particular continue to struggle to find jobs. That’s the picture painted by a new Focus Paper from the Bertelsmann Stiftung, which takes a close look at how migrants are faring on the German labour market. The numbers underline just …

For more than two decades, Cologne has set aside ten late-summer days for African cinema to take centre stage, and this year is no exception. From 17 to 27 September, the Afrika Film Festival Köln returns for its 23rd edition, once again turning the city into a meeting point for filmmakers, audiences and stories that rarely get this kind of …