CULTURE & SOCIETY

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 …

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) included 29 Nigerian English words in its January 2020 update. As the world’s foremost historical dictionary of English, the OED documents 600,000 words through 3.5 million illustrative quotations from over 1,000 years of history across the English-speaking world. Among the words, typically used by Nigerians, included in the latest edition of OED are Buka, Danfo, …

Kenyan Hollywood actress Lupita Nyong’o paid a short visit to Nigeria at the weekend to attend an event organised by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the award-winning Nigerian writer. The purpose of the event was for the Oscar-winning actress to intimate the Nigerian creative community with her screen-adaptation of Americanah, a novel by Adichie. HBO Max, a division of Warner Media Entertainment, …

The Netherlands has returned a ceremonial 18th century crown that had been stolen from Ethiopia in 1993. Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Ms Sigrid Kaag, personally handed over the crown to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed when she called on the Ethiopian leader in Addis Ababa on Tuesday (18 February). The crown, which has depictions of Jesus Christ, …

The Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) is accepting proposals to support initiatives in Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone. Possible target areas include journalism, justice reform and the rule of law, the democratic practice and more. Proposals must promote investigative journalism and free, quality and independent media. The amount of funding …

In this short story, Berlin-based legal scholar and creative author Nelly Sarpong writes on a fictional encounter with a racist at a train station, revealing how difficult it is to react in a situation where the dignity of a Black person is under assault. ——— It was 5: 45 pm, I was packing up and getting ready to leave when …

 The Union of Ghanaian Associations in Germany (UGAG) elected a new National Executive Committee at its recent bi-annual conference held in Kassel. The conference, attended by representatives of local Ghanaian associations from all over Germany, chose the following 7-member National Executive Committee officials: Mr. Akwasi Opoku Edusei – President; Mr. Alexander Okai Anane – Vice-president; Mr. Aaron Hooper – General Secretary; Mr. Paul …

Bob Marley, who is considered one of the world’s greatest artists of all time, would have been 75 years old on 6 February. His family and recording company have released a year-long commemoration programme, MARLEY75, featuring special releases, live performances and new music videos plus rare and unreleased material from the Marley family vaults and private collection. The Marley family, …

The agreement will give the band access to UMG’s global network around the world, and will allow greater opportunity for the band to reach new audiences globally, whilst continuing to satisfy and excite their dedicated fanbase with bold, creative campaigns that will engage a new generation of fans throughout Africa

On 11 January 2020, Frankfurt city played host to an elegant, classy and one of a kind event by My Ethnic Cooking & Catering. For the first time, the company hosted a Live African Cooking and Networking Event, which saw a cocktail of personalities come together to not only enjoy some good food, but also celebrate Africa’s rich and diverse …

The multifunctional online subscription site offers tried-and-tested creative crafting lesson plans, teaching resources and business acumen CAPE TOWN, South Africa, January 28, 2020/ — A Cape Town-based startup, Creative Crafting Club bridges the gap between entrepreneurship for stay-at-home parents and education for tots-to-tweens. The multifunctional online subscription site offers tried-and-tested creative crafting lesson plans, teaching resources and business acumen for …

Angelique Kidjo’s Celia won the Best World Music Album award at the 2020 Grammy awards in Los Angeles on Sunday night, ahead of other nominees including Altin Gün (Gece), Bokanté & Metropole Orkest Conducted By Jules Buckley (What Heat), Burna Boy (African Giant) and Nathalie Joachim With Spektral Quartet (Fanm D’Ayiti). It marked Kidjo’s her fourth win in the category.   The Benin Republic-born …

Barely a few weeks after former US President Barack Obama’s revealed his favourite music list containing a song by Nigerian music star, Burna Boy, his wife Michelle has done the same. A song by the African Giant which is titled ‘My Money’ ‘My Baby’ sits on the fourth position on Michelle Obama’s workout playlist for 2020. Obama revealed in a …

Solarrio is a notable name in the thriving Berlin’s hip-hop scene. His biography already marks him out, being the son of a world-famous conductor and, of course, his music, which brings together all of the influences he’s been exposed to as a global citizen, having lived in France, US and Germany. The hip-hop artist, whose musical styles and influences range …

Senegalese-American artist and businessman Alioune Badara Thiam alias Akon has signed an agreement with the Senegalese government for the construction of a “futuristic city” in Mbodiene, near Mbour. The “Dakar Sustainable City” project, a technological marvel of a city that will run on futuristic tech such as cryptocurrency and renewable energy, is to support tourism in Senegal by attracting visitors …

“Ndi-Igbo Germany is calling on all Ndi-Igbo, both home and abroad, to join hands with us and halt this cultural aberration which erodes, cheapens and bastardizes our value system of hard work, honesty and enviable benefit-and-reward system."

South Africa’s Zozibini Tunzi was crowned Miss Universe 2019 on Sunday night. The 26-year-old beauty queen beat 89 other contestants to be crowned the new Miss Universe during the pageant held at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, US. Miss Puerto Rico Madison Anderson was the first runner up and Miss Mexico Sofia Aragon was the second runner-up. The final …

Edo State Commissioner of Local Government and Community Affairs, Hon. Monday Osaigbovo, recently paid a courtesy call on Nigeria’s Ambassador to Germany, HE Alhaji Maitama Tuggar, in his office in Berlin. Mr Osaigbovo was accompanied on the visit by Barrister Efosa Ogieriakhi, president of Edo in Diaspora Worldwide, Mr Austin Imade, Director of Edo Cultural Festival Germany, and several other …

In a development praised as opening new frontiers for the Nigerian film industry, popular actor and producer Ayodeji Richard Makun, better known by his stage name AY, is partnering a Chinese company for the first-ever co-production by both countries.

The competition was hosted by free-to-use photography app, Agora, and received over 130,000 submissions from 193 countries.