News

The two-day conference in Brandenburg brought together diplomatic representatives, government officials, refugees and civil society to discuss migration, democratic participation and  development. Bad Belzig/Potsdam, Germany, 12 October 2026 – Two African ambassadors and three integration commissioners representing three levels of public administration were among the prominent participants at the 12th African Cultures and Democratic Dialogue (12ACDD), organised by Cagintua e.V. …

Diaspora families are doing more than sending money home. Through WIDU Africa, they are helping create businesses, jobs and new futures across the continent. Nyima Jadama reports on its new initiatives For millions of Africans living in Europe, supporting family members back home is part of everyday life. A money transfer can help pay school fees, cover medical expenses or …

Yankuba Darboe, chairman of the Brikama Area Council (BAC) in The Gambia’s West Coast Region, recently met members of the Gambian community in Berlin as part of his ongoing European tour. Darboe, a member of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), used the gathering to discuss local development initiatives, political developments and the diaspora’s important role in shaping The Gambia’s …

Former UN human rights chief honoured for her decades-long fight for justice and international law, joining a distinguished group of African Nobel laureates whose work has shaped the global struggle for human rights, democracy and peace. South African jurist Navanethem “Navi” Pillay has been awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her lifelong efforts to promote peace, uphold …

Businesses struggle, residents protest and the government pledges to tackle Gambia’s worsening electricity crisis by building a 24-megawatt plant. Nyima Jadama reports Since summer this year, Gambians have faced a power supply crisis, disrupting businesses and daily activities of citizens. The frequent blackouts force businesses and households to cope without electricity for days. Banjul, the country’s capital, is experiencing frustration …

News analysis | The African Courier | 2 October 2026 The mass arrival of migrants in Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta in July has become a catalyst for a new phase in European migration policy. Across the EU, governments are pushing harder for deportations, return hubs outside Europe and stronger border controls, while debate over asylum access and regularisation …

The federal government plans to cut funding for independent asylum procedure counselling (behördenunabhängige Asylverfahrensberatung, AVB) to €5 million next year, down from €24.5 million in 2026. The draft 2027 budget is still being debated in the Bundestag, and the Interior Ministry says the counselling would in future be available only to especially vulnerable asylum-seekers. What the ministry says According to …

On 1 October the Council of the EU gave its final green light to new rules for more effective returns of people with no legal right to stay in the EU. The regulation is due to come into force in the coming weeks. Because it is a regulation rather than a directive, it applies directly in all 27 member states. …

Ghana’s president says his country’s forthcoming African Union chairmanship could provide an opportunity to bring Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America closer through trade and economic cooperation Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama has proposed closer economic integration between Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, saying Ghana will use its forthcoming chairmanship of the African Union to pursue stronger links between …

The Dangote Refinery may have solved one of Nigeria’s most stubborn problems: producing refined petroleum at home. But what happens when one company becomes so important that its success begins to matter to the entire national economy? In his latest analysis, Collins Nweke looks beyond the refinery’s headline-making public offering and forthcoming expansion to examine the bigger questions: Can Nigeria …

A renewed online campaign defending female genital mutilation in Mali has prompted Dr Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana to speak out. Drawing on her Malian connection, having been born in the country, and her decades of advocacy for women’s rights, the former European Parliament member calls for stronger protection of girls, challenges the misuse of religion and tradition, and urges Mali to finally …

For travellers, the strength of a passport can make a significant difference to how easily they can cross borders. A new 2026 ranking by Passport Reports compares passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without obtaining a visa in advance, including destinations offering visa-free entry, visa on arrival or electronic travel authorisation (ETA). The latest data …

New results from the OECD’s PISA 2025 study, published this week, confirm a pattern that has followed German education policy for years: how well a child does in school in Germany still depends heavily on their family’s social background — and children with a migration history are disproportionately affected, since they are more likely to come from socially disadvantaged families …

A new analysis from the German Economic Institute (IW) projects that Germany could be short 723,000 skilled workers by 2029 — almost double 2025’s shortfall — with sectors that already lean heavily on immigrant labour, from care work to construction, among the hardest hit. Germany’s skilled-worker shortage is set to widen sharply over the next three years, according to a …

Twenty-five years after 9/11, its deepest legacy extends far beyond the wars that followed. The attacks reshaped how the world moves, trades, finances and cooperates, embedding security into the architecture of globalisation. Collins Nweke* examines how that transformation reordered the global system—and continues to shape its future. Twenty-five years after 11 September 2001, perhaps its most enduring legacy is not …

The story of Jolloful Foods began not in a boardroom, but around a breakfast table in Berlin in the 1990s. Every Saturday, a diverse group of professionals from 17 countries gathered at a French restaurant near Savignyplatz, to share stories and explore Berlin. Then one day, a simple question about the absence of African food planted a seed. A concert …

The UN just endorsed a map that shows Africa’s true size — fourteen times larger than Greenland, not the equal footing Mercator gave them. Collins Nweke* argues the real story isn’t cartography but coordinated African agency, and asks the harder question: correcting a projection is easy, but can Africa close the gap between its vast endowment and its actual power …

Plans to send some rejected asylum seekers to centres outside the EU are moving from political debate towards implementation. But serious questions remain over human rights, legal safeguards and Europe’s responsibility for people it wants to remove. Germany and four other EU countries are stepping up efforts to establish so-called “return hubs” in countries outside the European Union, with Rwanda …

Nigeria may be the country making headlines with its iDICE Skills-to-Jobs programme, but the story it tells belongs to the whole continent. From Nairobi to Dakar, Kigali to Johannesburg, Africa’s youth bulge is producing the same paradox: rising numbers of graduates and certificate-holders, and still too few pathways into real income, enterprise or productive work. Every African government wrestling with …

The United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly endorsed an African-led initiative to promote world maps that more accurately reflect the actual size of continents. For Africa, the campaign is about more than cartography: it challenges a visual representation that has shaped how generations have understood the continent’s place in the world. In a striking diplomatic victory for African states, the …