Immigration authorities are working against the spirit of the law on skilled labour immigration, according to the association for foreign students in Germany. Many international students feel “downright fear and despair” when going to the authorities, the body said, suggesting how the situation could be improved The Federal Association of Foreign Students (Bundesverband ausländischer Studierender or BAS) has sharply criticised …

Almost every new month of the year brings new laws and regulations that affect various areas of everyday life. In May 2024, people living in Germany can once again expect important changes: higher minimum wages in elderly care, flights from Germany will become more expensive, new field added on identity cards etc. Here’s an overview of these and other new …

30 April, Geneva – Better Cotton, the world’s largest cotton sustainability initiative, is to conduct sustainability mapping and assessments in West and Central Africa to enhance its understanding of the needs of smallholder farmers in the region and identify context-specific interventions. Funded by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), these assessments will inform ways in which targeted support can aid the production of more …

The African cloud ecosystem represents untapped potential of nearly $1bn, with only 17% of 6,000 companies, with over 250 employees, fully on the cloud. Despite the growing demand for cloud services, both African startups and global cloud orchestration firms are not capitalising on this opportunity. There is a vast gulf in the rate of cloud adoption between emerging and mature …

Plans to eliminate the blinding disease trachoma from 16 African countries have been boosted with $36.5m (about €34.24) in new funding. Twelve of the countries supported through the Accelerate programme, led by the non-profit Sightsavers, hope to eliminate trachoma by 2027 and three will make significant progress towards this goal in that time.  Trachoma begins as a bacterial infection, with symptoms similar …

The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship are just around the corner, and with summer fast approaching, many people across Europe will be supporting their country’s squad in Germany. With ten different German cities hosting the games from 14 June to 14 July 2024, knowing where you’ll spend most of your money or how much to take with you is important. …

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the appointment of twelve consuls-general and five chargés d’affaires to represent Nigeria in fourteen countries. The announcement was made by Alkasim Abdulkadir, the Special Assistant on Media and Communications Strategy to Yusuf Tuggar, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in a statement released on Tuesday. Among the new appointees is Ambassador Yakubu Dadu, who is …

In a recent study, the Netherlands emerged as Europe’s most active online nation. SEO agency Digital Climax analysed data from Eurostat to compare the percentages of individuals engaged in six selected categories of online activity across each country in Europe. The data was then used to create an overall ‘Online Activity Score’ out of ten, for each European country.  The …

Nigerian leader meets Dutch prime minister in The Hague, said his country offers immense opportunities across several sectors for foreign investors and that his government was deepening reforms to improve the investment climate. President Bola Tinubu says Nigeria is well-positioned to power the clean energy future of Europe and the world with its high-grade lithium deposits. Speaking during a meeting …

Pastor Elad Kiwanuka Epah was the victim of a suspected racist attack in Bad Belzig, Brandenburg, in the night of 24 to 25 April. The Cameroon-born clergyman was reportedly attacked by suspected neo-Nazi thugs. Briefly hospitalised, he was discharged in the afternoon of 25 April. The incident has been eliciting reactions from the African community in Germany. “This cowardly act …

German police announced on Wednesday that they had arrested 11 suspected members of a Nigerian criminal group behind a large-scale dating scam. A total of 19 homes and asylum hostels in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and Hamburg were searched, according to the Bavarian State Office of Criminal Investigation and the Munich I public prosecutor’s office in a joint statement. Bavarian Minister …

A controversial United Kingdom government bill to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda finally secured the approval of the upper house of parliament on Monday and has been assented to by King Charles. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who hopes the controversial law will boost the fortunes of his Conservative Party in an election expected to take place later this year, said his …

Around 30 per cent of the population have a migration background, according to the new microcensus for 2023 published by the Federal Statistical Office. A person has a migration background if they themselves or at least one of their parents were not born with German citizenship. Specifically, this definition includes immigrant and non-immigrant foreigners, immigrant and non-immigrant naturalised citizens, late …

On 17 April 2024, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s new book entitled “Wir” (We) was presented at Bellevue Palace in Berlin. In “Wir”, President Steinmeier recalls milestones and experiences that have shaped Germany over the past 75 years. In doing so, he emphasised the efforts of joint action, from which political strength arises. In his speech at the event, Steinmeier emphasised the …

On 8 April, representatives of the federal administration met in Berlin with civil society stakeholders to develop a holistic diversity strategy for the federal administration. This working group, consisting of all federal ministries, federal government commissioners and representatives of the trade unions, reflected the diverse society and endeavoured to reflect this in the public service. Federal Minister of the Interior …

Housing is the social issue of the 21st century, German politicians and experts say time and again. And yet there’s no improvement in sight, especially in cities, where affordable housing is in short supply. Oliver Pieper reports Amir Schraff’s (name changed by the editors) nightmare began on December 24, 2022. On that day, the single father from Afghanistan, who had …

Furaha Kensmil explains why she feels like a foreigner in both Suriname, where she was born, and the Netherlands, where she has lived most of her life. Furaha delves into the complexities of the identity of the people of African descent in the Netherlands, which prides itself as a colour-blind nation. I find it difficult to call myself Dutch. The …

A recent study conducted by experts at Vignetteswitzerland.com has unveiled the most and least affordable European countries for car ownership.  The research considered factors such as fuel prices, vehicle taxes, and insurance costs, compared to average salaries, to assign each place a unique score to reveal where owning a car is the least financially draining.  The higher the index score …

Germany recorded more than 214,000 criminal acts of violence last year, according to official police statistics. Overall crime also rose, according to data seen by the German paper Welt am Sonntag. Nik Martin reports Germany recorded a large rise in violent crime in 2023, the first year without pandemic restrictions, police statistics published Saturday showed. Welt am Sonntag, which gained …

The European Parliament on Wednesday adopted ten legislative texts to reform European migration and asylum policy as agreed with EU member states. Analysts say the sweeping reform of Europe’s asylum policies, reached after nearly a decade of negotiations, would harden border procedures and force all the bloc’s 27 nations to share responsibility. Here are the ten decisions made by the …