Brain drain is a major challenge facing the Nigerian health system, leading to a dramatic reduction in the number of doctors in the country. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Nigeria is one of the three leading African sources of foreign-born physicians. Olayinka Stephen Ilesanmi, Lecturer, Department of Community Medicine, University of Ibadan, explains why doctors are …

The weeks-long standoff between Sea-Watch 3 and the Italian government ended with the arrest of Captain Carola Rackete, who has now been freed. But international maritime law and a country’s own laws often don’t chime, say experts. Carola Rackete, captain of the search and rescue vessel Sea-Watch 3, was arrested on Saturday by Italian authorities for “resisting a warship” after …

Yohannes Gedamu, scholar and university teacher, explains how Ethiopia’s federal system is responsible for the political turmoil in the country despite Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s efforts to liberalise the democratic space. For almost three decades Ethiopia’s federal structure – enshrined in the country’s 1994 constitution – has been defended by the ruling coalition, the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front. It’s …

It’s always easier and more convenient to enjoy a new country when you have a tour guide. You hardly miss your way going around since you are led by an experienced person who knows the nooks and crannies of the place. This is why the association of German journalists of migrant origin, called “Neue deutsche Medienmacher” (New German Media Professionals), …

A stowaway fell from the undercarriage of a Kenya Airways plane as it approached Heathrow Airport and landed in a London garden on Sunday, police and airline officials have confirmed. A stowaway is a person who secretly boards a vehicle, such as a ship or an aircraft, in order to travel without paying and without being detected. The flight in …

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has adopted a single currency, named eco, to be launched by 2020. It’s one of the decisions of the 55th ordinary session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the group held on Saturday, 29 June in Abuja, Nigeria, in the presence of 13 of the 15 heads of …

Nigeria’s foreign ministry has warned the country’s citizens that if they’re travelling through Ethiopia with undeclared cash in excess of 3,000 US dollars, they could have the cash seized. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs wishes to inform all Nigerian travellers that the Ethiopian Customs and Revenue Authority (ECRA) has recently stepped up seizure of foreign currencies and valuables in excess …

Saturday, 29 June 2019 has gone down in history as the day citizens of an African country protested angrily in Europe against their visiting president to the notice of the international media. About 250 Cameroonian exiles carried out a protest action in front of the luxurious InterContinental Hotel, where President Paul Biya and his wife were staying, in the Swiss …

The 17th Africa Film Festival Cologne holds from 19 – 29 September 2019. A main focus of the biannual festival is on “Fundamentalism and Migration” and it presents 20 films which address the subject, chosen by FilmInitiativ Köln, organizers of the festival, for good reasons. Flight and migration are among the most important topical issues of our time. At the …

All roads lead to the city of Bremen on 7 July when the 13th African Football Cup 2019 kicks off. A total of 16 national teams representing their countries of origin in Africa will lock horns for the prestigious trophy over five Sundays. The participants in the tournament, organised by the Pan-Afrikanischer Kulturverein e.V. (Pan-African Cultural Association), represent members of …

Germany is called the land of ideas in academic circles and for good reasons. There are 427 state-accredited institutions of higher education – universities and polytechnics – in Germany. Together, they offer a total of over 18,000 degree programmes. In this piece Chijioke Kizito Onah, a postgraduate student of the University of Frankfurt and DAAD scholarship recipient, discusses strategies foreign …

German software company SAP and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) plan to jointly create 450 jobs for highly qualified personnel in the IT sector in ten African countries. The collaboration, which was presented in Berlin today by German Development Minister Gerd Müller and by Michael Kleinemeier, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE and …

Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, ICC, Gambian Fatou Bensouda has been hit with a visa ban by the United States government over her office’s decision to probe alleged war crimes by Americans. She has been investigating US forces and their allies in Afghanistan, a move that United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cautioned last month and said could …

The search for the 32-year-old Kenyan woman, who was declared missing in April has ended with the tragic discovery of her decomposed remains in a forest. Rita Awour Ojunge, mother of two, was reported missing on 7 April by her husband in the town of Hohenleipisch, in the state Brandenburg. The police on Tuesday announced that after many weeks of …

An appeal has gone out to Nigerians living in Germany to desist from paying bribes to access service at their country’s embassy. The appeal was made by Alhaji Mohammed Bello Musa Anka, Minister in charge of the Consular & Immigration Section at the embassy, while speaking in Dortmund at the annual general meeting of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Germany …

US-Africa Business Summit successfully advances trade, investment and commercial partnership between the US and Africa Heads of State, Vice Presidents, and Prime Ministers from nine African nations attended the Corporate Council on Africa’s 12th US-Africa Business Summit in Maputo, Mozambique on June 18-21. They were joined by Ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Commerce, Economy, Public Works, and ICT from more …

The German chapter of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) has elected a new executive committee. The election was part of the body’s annual general meeting, which took place on Saturday, 22 June in the city of Dortmund. Dr RosaLyn Dressmann was elected to lead the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Germany (NIDOG) as President for the next two years at …

National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Friday said a total of 14,036 Nigerians have voluntarily returned home under the Assisted Voluntary Returnees Programme which began in April 2017. The Nigerians, who were stranded in Libya, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ireland, France, Gambia, Austria, Poland, Morocco and Liberia, were brought back by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the European …

Rwanda has opened its first gold refinery to process gold from all over Africa and to discourage the export of the minerals from the continent. The new refinery, built at a cost of $5 million by Aldango Company is located at the Kigali Special Economic Zone in Gasabo District. Aldango which was previously running as a business dealing in gold …

The Egbe Omo Oduduwa Salzburg (Yoruba Community in Salzburg), Austria, celebrated the Nigeria Cultural Festival in grand style at the weekend.  The event, tagged Yoruba Carnival, was marked in collaboration with the entire Nigerian Community in Austria. The event was attended by guests from the United Kingdom, France and Germany, among others. The members of Yoruba associations in Munich and …