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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 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 …

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 …

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 …

Many Nigerians living abroad know the frustration of trying to build or buy a home back in Nigeria through family members, friends or intermediaries — sometimes with disappointing and costly results. A newly launched diaspora mortgage scheme by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) aims to offer a safer, more transparent and institutional route to home ownership for Nigerians …

The 2026 World Cup will be remembered as the tournament in which a small island nation of fewer than 600,000 inhabitants compelled the world to reconsider some of its assumptions. It reminded us that, in the community of nations, greatness is determined neither by the size of a territory nor by the number of its inhabitants. Dr Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, a …

What does Cape Verde’s remarkable World Cup journey mean to its global diaspora? In this deeply personal reflection, renowned academic, former MEP and respected voice in the African diaspora in Europe, Dr Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, explores how the Blue Sharks’ success became a powerful celebration of identity, belonging and pride for Cape Verdeans — and Africans everywhere. The extraordinary journey of …

Europe has reached a demographic turning point. According to the European Commission’s latest Demography Report 2026, the continent’s population has reached its peak and will begin to decline in the coming decades. The report concludes that without immigration, the European Union’s population would shrink by around 130 million people by 2100, highlighting the crucial role migration plays in sustaining Europe’s …

Jolloful Foods GmbH is on a mission to make African cuisine more accessible across Europe through a range of ready-to-eat meals inspired by traditional recipes from the continent. Its name draws inspiration from jollof rice – one of Africa’s most cherished dishes, famous not only for its distinctive blend of rice, tomatoes and spices, but also for the friendly cross-border …

Shocking scenes of anti-migrant violence in South Africa expose more than xenophobia; they reveal a deeper continental crisis. Beneath the brutality lies failed governance, economic despair and broken promises across Africa. This moment demands not only outrage, but honest reflection on leadership, accountability and the urgent need for systemic transformation in the continent, argues Femi Awoniyi The images of African …

Beijing has scrapped import tariffs on goods from 53 African countries, in what it calls an unprecedented act of economic solidarity. The figures are striking. But an analysis of who exports what — and at what rates — reveals a more complicated picture. For Africa to convert market access into economic transformation, far more than a tariff change will be …

The United Nations General Assembly has taken a significant symbolic step in confronting one of the darkest chapters in human history. On 25 March 2026, the Assembly adopted a resolution recognising the transatlantic slave trade as “the gravest crime against humanity,” a move widely welcomed by advocates of historical justice and reparative action. The occasion was the UN Plenary to …

COMMENTARY By Amal Abbass* On 25 March 2026, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution recognizing the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and racialized chattel enslavement as the “gravest crime against humanity.” Though non-binding, the resolution explicitly links historical recognition to reparative justice, including apology, restitution, compensation, institutional reform and the return of cultural property. This article argues that …

A growing number of African nationals are being drawn into Russia’s war against Ukraine. What investigators, journalists and governments have pieced together is a troubling picture of systematic deception. Young men targeted in countries where unemployment is high and poverty is prevalent are lured with the promise of well-paid civilian jobs and then coerced into military service on some of …

The German Bundestag has passed a major overhaul of the country’s asylum laws. The new rules — enacted on Friday, 27 February 2026 — implement a European Union asylum reform while also introducing new national measures that go further. They aim to process asylum applications faster, reduce so-called “secondary movement” across EU borders and return people who are not eligible …

The landmark Trans-African Tourism and Unity Campaign, led by Pan-African advocate and former Ghanaian lawmaker Ras Mubarak, concluded its multi-month continental tour on 22 January 2026 after traversing 31 African countries and covering more than 40,000 kilometres. The campaign, which began in Accra on 18 August 2025, was to promote visa-free travel across Africa by 2030, strengthen tourism, deepen cultural …

The newly released Henley Passport Index 2026 once again highlights the deep inequalities that shape global mobility, showing how nationality continues to determine who can move freely across borders and who cannot. The annual ranking, based on data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), assesses passports according to the number of destinations their holders can enter without obtaining a …

Against a backdrop of shrinking budgets and a weakening system of international cooperation, Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Reem Alabali Radovan, has announced a strategic reorientation of the country’s development policy. The new approach places stronger emphasis on clearly defined priorities, regional focus and a more explicit alignment with German interests. Presenting a policy paper in Berlin …