Germany

Train drivers will go on a three-day strike from Wednesday (11 August), the German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) has confirmed. The strike will affect regional and long-distance trains all over the country. The GDL is demanding a wage increase of 3.2 per cent for employees and a 600-euro corona bonus for the current year in the collective bargaining dispute with …

Maisha – African Women in Germany e.V. has launched an information and awareness campaign on Covid-19 in Germany’s African community. The campaign ‘Information and Awareness Raising on Covid-19 – Model Project for African Migrants in Germany’ was launched on Sunday (8 August) in Frankfurt. The event took place at the New Covenant Assemblies after the Sunday worship session of the …

Nigeria’s ambassador to Germany, HE Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, has called on the executive committee of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Germany (NIDOG) to discharge its duties “in good faith and continue the good work of championing the welfare and interests of Nigerians in Germany”. The ambassador made the call in a congratulatory message he sent to the President of NIDOG, …

There are many legal changes entering into effect in August, including new rules for holiday returnees and a controversial ID card requirement. There is also good news for low-income families and all those who are obliged to file a tax return. The African Courier summarises what will be important for you to know. ——– Compulsory testing for travellers returning to …

As Germany comes to grips with the vast devastation and loss of life caused by the worst floods in decades, the government has offered more than €300 million in aid including help for infrastructure and small businesses. Speaking to newspaper Bild am Sonntag, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said he would propose a package of immediate aid at a cabinet meeting …

Very soon, digital fingerprinting will be mandatory in German ID cards. The question is: Will it make the cards more secure? Or is it an invasive threat to our freedom? Nina Werkhäuser and Esther Felden of DW examine the issue in this special report —— “It was a really creepy feeling,” says data protection activist Leena Simon, describing the moment …

A powerful Nigerian delegation visited Berlin on Wednesday, 7 July 2021, to pursue the return of the famous Benin bronze heads and other cultural artefacts that were pillaged from that country in the 19th Century during a punitive expedition of the British Army. Led by Information and Culture Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the delegation included Mr Godwin Obaseki, the Governor …

Every month there are new laws and other legal changes. July 2021 is no different. Whether minimum wage increase, single-use plastic ban, compulsory measles vaccination or digital Covid-19 vaccination card: We have all the relevant changes at a glance! ——- Statutory minimum wage increases From July 2021, the minimum wage will increase by 10 cents from 9.50 euros to 9.60 …

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 virtually on Saturday, 26 June. Femi Awoniyi was elected unopposed to lead the NIDO Germany as President for the next two years at the event. He replaced Dr RosaLyn Dressman who …

The Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Germany e.V. (NIDO Germany) holds its annual general meeting on Saturday, 26 June. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the event, to which all members are invited to attend, takes place virtually this year. The Annual General Meeting (AGM), an important democratic practice, is a forum for an organisation to take stock of its activities and …

The President of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Germany (NIDOG), Dr RosaLyn Dressman, has been appointed the Diaspora Focal Officer (DFO) of Bayelsa State. The appointment makes Mrs Dressman the chief adviser to the state’s governor, Senator Duoye Diri, on all matters concerning the diaspora. The DFO also officially liaises between the government of Bayelsa State and indigenes of Bayelsa …

The quite city of Würzburg was thrown into mourning on Friday a Somali man indiscriminately attacked pedestrians and shoppers in the city centre with a knife on the afternoon of the fateful day. Before the 24-year-old assailant was finally stopped by the police, he had killed three women and injured seven others, some of them seriously. The officers had finally …

A TV production about the death of the African Oury Jalloh in a Dessau police cell over 17 years ago has been awarded the German Podcast Prize 2021 for “Best Journalistic Performance”. The production, by the public broadcaster WDR and entitled Oury Jalloh und die Toten des Polizeireviers Dessau (“Oury Jalloh and the dead of the Dessau police station”), received …

If the Greens emerge top party at Germany’s September election, their chancellery candidate Annalena Baerbock would succeed conservative Angela Merkel. The German Greens party confirmed Annalena Baerbock as its chancellor candidate for the September election, during a party conference on Saturday. Accepting her 98.5% confirmation, Baerbock forecast a “duel” with Germany’s CDU-CSU conservatives, led by Angela Merkel, herself once environment …

June 6, 2021 is a day that will leave a mark in the minds of members of the Kenyan community in Germany. Adorned in their ‘Sunday best’, traditional attires, one by one, they logged into the long-awaited online event to meet and greet their new Kenyan ambassador to Germany, His Excellency Thomas Boniface Amolo. The event, organised by Kenyan Women …

Ten start-ups from across Africa have been chosen for the Afro German Pitch Night at which the winner will walk away with €100,000 equity investment. The nominees were selected from the Deutsch Connect and Idea Seed Africa networks of start-ups.The final list of start-ups include five from Nigeria – namely, Agriple, Asusu, Chekkit, M.E Solutions and Rural Farmers Hub, and …

The opening of the newly-built German capital’s one-world centre (Eine-Welt-Zentrum), the Berlin Global Village, was celebrated on Friday. The aim of the Berlin Global Village, whose construction was flagged off just about a year ago, is to provide working and meeting spaces for around 50 development and migrant-diasporic non-governmental organisations. The Berlin Global Village, whose construction was flagged off just …

A German court has charged a nun €500 for assisting Nigerian women threatened with deportation from Germany. The two women reportedly fled from forced prostitution in Italy. Different groups criticized the court order and called for a decriminalization of church asylum. Benjamin Bathke reports Juliana Seelmann, a 38-year-old nun who lives and works in the Franciscan abbey of Oberzell in …

The analysis of refugees’ mobile phone data to ascertain their identity violates their fundamental rights. This was the decision of the Berlin Administrative Court while ruling in the case of a 44-year-old Afghan woman. The verdict puts a question mark on the controversial practice to which the authorities sometimes resort to establish the true identity of asylum-seekers —- The controversial …

The Nigerian community is in shock over the gruesome, cold-blooded killing of Hamburg-based Oguchi Unachukwu while visiting his home country. According to Nigerian press reports and the accounts of his relations in Nigeria, Mr Unachukwu was shot by a soldier in Owerri, Imo State, on Monday. The Nigerian, who was on his way to the Owerri airport to catch his …