A tragic shipwreck off the coast of Libya last month and more than a dozen other recent fatalities elsewhere have pushed the death toll in the Mediterranean Sea to 20,014 since 2014, according to IOM’s Missing Migrants Project. IOM stands for International Organisation for Migration, a UN agency. “The disappearance and presumed drowning of at least 91 people reported missing …

The Measles Protection Act (Masernschutzgesetz) entered into force on 1 March. The law, which was passed on 14 November 2019, is intended to provide school, kindergarten and day care children with better protection against measles. From the beginning of March, parents who want to have their child or ward admitted to a day care centre, kindergarten, school or other communal …

The German city of Munich will on 28 March host the 5th edition of the annual Impact Initiative, a human capacity development project facilitated by Impacti.org. The event, themed “Personal Development and Social Competence” and holding at the renowned EineWeltHaus in the Bavarian capital, promotes personal empowerment by imparting knowledge and skills. “First started in 2015, the programme was conceived …

The 11th Federal Government Integration Summit took place on Monday at the office of the federal chancellor in Berlin. Since 2006, representatives from the worlds of politics, business, education and civil society have been meeting regularly at the summits to discuss key integration policy issues. Chancellor Merkel used the event this year to kick off a long overdue debate on …

"In Africa, a continent perceived as a group of nations with weak institutions, poor infrastructure and some of the world's horrific conflicts; the inspiring example and impact that one effective leader exemplifies is truly powerful and game changing, not just for the immediate beneficiaries but for the world"

The Embassy of Ghana in Germany has cancelled the official celebrations of the country’s 63rd independence celebrations originally scheduled for 6 March in Berlin. The Embassy on Tuesday sent out a notice of cancellation to guests invited to the event. In the notice, signed by Mr Louis Obeng, Head of Chancery, the Embassy wrote: “Following confirmation of some coronavirus cases …

Senegal has become the second country in sub-Saharan Africa to record a coronavirus case, health minister, Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr said on Monday at a press conference in the capital, Dakar. The Minister said the victim in question was a French national who entered the country aboard an Air Senegal flight on February 26. Nigeria is the other country in the …

Protesters turned out in Hamburg on Saturday (29 February), the last day of Black History Month, at a public demonstration against the controversial court decision legitimising the use of the derogatory word “neger” (subsequently referred to as the N-word in this report) to describe people of African descent in Germany. The state constitutional court of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania had ruled on …

About 100 participants turned out on Saturday in Berlin to commemorate the African victims of slave trade, slavery, colonialism and racist violence. The annual event, which took place for the 8th time in the German capital, demanded an official recognition of the crimes of colonialism and slavery in Africa and the racism that people of African descent suffer across the …

Amid fighting in Syria, some 13,000 people were seeking to cross into Greece from Turkey on Saturday evening (29 February), prompting Greece to close the border and call for EU talks. Europe seems to be under the threat of new waves of irregular migration which could assume the proportion of the 2015 crisis when hundreds of thousands of migrants and …

March 2020 brings some changes for people living in Germany as a result of new or amended laws and regulations. Some of these changes include mandatory measles vaccination for children, introduction of repeat doctor’s prescriptions, the prohibition of speed camera warning app on your smartphone and easier immigration for skilled workers from non-EU countries, among others.

Netflix has announced its official presence in Nigeria. The streaming giant announced the arrival of Netflix Naija with a new Twitter account on Tuesday, 26 February. An analysis of the likely impact of the development on the Nigerian film industry by News Agency of Nigeria. Netflix has been wooing Nollywood stylishly for a while now; from streaming Nollywood movies from …

President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, paid a 2-day State Visit to the Swiss Confederation on 28-29 February. It’s the third time in history that Switzerland organised a State Visit for a leader from Sub-Saharan Africa. The Ghanaian leader and his delegation were received by Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga and her ministers, and both parties held talks on a …

After days of uncertainties over the rapidly spreading coronavirus, the organisers of the International Tourism Bourse (ITB) Berlin has cancelled the event, which was to hold from 4-8 March. “With more than 10,000 exhibitors from over 180 countries ITB Berlin is extremely important for the world’s tourism industry. We take our responsibility for the health and safety of our visitors, …

Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, confirmed the country’s first case of coronavirus in a statement issued in the early hours of Friday, 28 February. It’s also the first case of the disease registered in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the statement, the case involves an Italian citizen who works in Nigeria and just returned from Milan, Italy on 25 …

The International Tourism Bourse (ITB) Berlin will hold from Wednesday to Sunday, 4 to 8 March, on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds ICC. ITB is the world’s leading travel trade show. Last year, the event attracted a total of 10,000 exhibitors from 181 countries and 160,000 visitors. Countries, cities and regions, tour operators, airlines, online booking portals and hotels, and many …

"After ten years of preparatory work by civil society, there will finally be a place at the end of the year where Berlin will be developed into a globally just city"

Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbé has won a fourth term in power, the national electoral commission declared on Monday. According to preliminary results, he received 72% of the vote, defeating six other candidates. Gnassingbé’s closest rival and main opposition leader, Agbéyomé Kodjo, clinched only 18% of the popular vote cast in the election. The final results are expected to be announced …

On 4 March 2020 in Brussels, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group will host the ECR-Africa Summit to discuss policy options about governance, participation of women, foreign direct investment and the digital economy to develop a stronger relationship between the EU and Africa. Guest speaker is the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo. The ECR’s co-chair Ryszard Legutko MEP, who …

Berlin Critics’ Week, an independent event about film criticism which yearly takes place during the Berlinale festival in Berlin, showed two films on Sunday (23 February). One of the films is The Lost Okoroshi, the second feature of Nigerian director Abba T. Makama, while the other is the Brazilian entry Seven Years in May by Affonso Uchôa. Set in the …