Nigeria’s hip-hop superstar Wizkid was the biggest winner at the 2017 edition of the All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) held on Sunday in Lagos. Hosted at the seaside Eko Hotel & Suites on the high-brow Victoria Island, African stars from all over the continent graced the event which celebrated their achievements in the music business. Wizkid won three of the …

Reacting to the death of 26 Nigerian women who drowned in the Mediterranean on 5 November 2017 and the CNN video report showing Nigerians being traded as slaves in Libya, the Migration Enlightenment Project Nigeria (MEPN) has called for tougher laws against human trafficking to bring “the needless deaths to an end”. The MEPN is currently carrying out an information campaign …

A night to remember for Sweden as they qualify for next year’s World Cup in Russia but catastrophe for Italy. For the first time since 1958 the Azzurri will miss out on the finals – They failed to score in two legs against Sweden, enabling the Scandinavians to go through with a 1-0 aggregate playoff victory.. Italy’s Coach Gian Piero …

The new system will allow those entitled to benefits to directly collect cash at tills, rather than using distributors at job centres, reports Emma Beswick. Germany’s unemployed will soon be able to collect benefits at checkouts in certain supermarkets and chemists as part of a government bid to cut costs, according to newspaper WELT AM SONNTAG. Set to kick off …

The chancellor has said that her CDU party, the Greens and the business-friendly FDP will have an initial agreement ready this week. It is nearly two months since Germany held its general election. Elizabeth Schumacher reports. German Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared optimistic on Sunday that despite major policy differences – her Christian Democratic Party (CDU), the Greens and the pro-business …

Following a series of politically-motivated murders in Cameroon in the past week, the Society for Threatened Peoples (Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker, GfbV) has warned against an escalation of violence and a possible civil war in the country. “The dispute over the discrimination of the English-speaking minority in the central African state must be urgently resolved through political negotiations in order …

Police have detained six Nigerian in Ruhrgebiet who they allege have smuggled women into the country and forced them into prostitution. The police in the West German city of Oberhausen have arrested a couple from Nigeria who they alleged have smuggled women from Nigeria into the Ruhr area (Ruhrgebiet) in order to force them into prostitution. Also four more suspects …

Côte d’Ivoire have failed to qualify for next year’s competition after losing 2-0 to Morocco on Saturday in Abidjan. Morocco needed only a draw in their last group game to finish top of the table ahead of the Ivorians, who had to win at home to make a fourth straight appearance at the World Cup. The Ivorians have reached the …

Investment potential in the African nations of Ghana and Ethiopia will be key focal points during the Germany African Business Forum, to be held on 28 November in Munich. Hon. Ibrahim Mohammed Awal, Minister for Business Development for Ghana, and H.E. Dr. Mebrahtu Meles, State Minister for Industry of Ethiopia, will be delivering key presentations to attending investors at the …

The Federal Statistical Office has revealed that 2 percent of the people who lived in Germany at the end of 2016 had lodged asylum applications. That’s more than double the figure for 2014. Ben Knight reports. On Friday, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) revealed that 1.6 million people were officially registered as “seeking protection for humanitarian reasons” in Germany at …

One of the recipients of the MoneyGram-sponsored “Afrika! Community Award 2017”** is the Nigerian Community Germany e.V. (NGC), the umbrella body of Nigerian organisations in the country. Nigerians are found in various social stations across Germany and are organised in different forms – ethnic, religious, professional, political and socio-cultural. There’re no definite figures of the current number of Nigerians in the …

Thousands marched in Rome to protest against the government’s proposal to reform citizenship procedures for descendants of immigrants living in Italy. In Italy, thousands of people attended a far-right rally in Rome on Wednesday over a new law that could grant citizenship to children of immigrants. Under the bill called “right of the soil” (lus soli), children under 12 who’ve …

Adeola Oladele Fayehun of Sahara TV has quit her job with the medium. Created in April 2011, Sahara TV is the broadcast outlet of Sahara Reporters, the groundbreaking online news medium commonly referred to as the “Wikileaks of Africa.” Adeola who regularly hosts a satirical news show on YouTube called Keeping It Real with Adeola, which is produced and published on the …

International music star, Akon, has been announced as host of the 4th annual All Africa Music Awards (Afrima), taking place on Sunday, 12 November at the Eko Convention Centre in Lagos, Nigeria. The annual All Africa Music Awards in partnership with the African Union Commission, is a celebration of Africa by rewarding the creativity and originality of African artistes and …

Edo State gets tough on people smuggling as increasing numbers of its indigenes drown in the Mediterranean. The government of Edo State, Nigeria, has announced its intention to make a law criminalizing human trafficking. The intention of the legislation, according to the state’s commissioner for justice, Prof. Yinka Omorogbe, is to curb the activities of persons engaged in the irregular …

Two men, one of them an Egyptian and the other a Libyan, have been arrested and charged in Italy as investigators look into the deaths of 26 Nigerian women and girls, who are suspected to have been murdered while attempting to cross the Mediterranean. The bodies of the women were brought to the southern Italian port of Salerno by the …

The African Union says it has commenced the downsizing of troops from Somalia in line with decisions taken by the AU and UN Security Council to hand over security responsibilities to the Somali Army. The head of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) Francisco Madeiro told the media in the capital Mogadishu on Tuesday that a thousand soldiers will …

Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Tuesday said democracy in the West African country was being threatened, a day after the Supreme Court put a presidential runoff on hold over fraud allegations. Former footballer George Weah was initially set to face Vice-President Joseph Boakai on Tuesday to determine who will replace the former Nobel Peace Prize laureate. A successful vote …

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria has been appointed into the United Nations High-Level Advisory Board on Mediation along with 17 other current and former global leaders. UN Secretary-General, Antonio Gutierrez, had in September announced the establishment of the board to provide him with advice on mediation initiatives and back specific mediation efforts around the world. The Board is composed …

The remains of 26 Nigerian women believed to be migrants have been recovered from a Spanish warship in the Italian coast city of Salerno. A report by the British Broadcasting Corporation on Monday said a Spanish warship, Cantabria, which docked in the city, was found to be carrying 375 rescued migrants and the dead women. According to the report, 23 …