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‘Debates on Africa, in Africa, with academics and scholars from Africa’ is how Cologne-based journalist Tina Adomako describes the 2019 conference of the African Studies Association of Africa, which she attended in Nairobi, Kenya, on 24-26 October. Ms Adomako reports from the gathering of scholars who, among others, discussed issues around reclaiming African studies from the European perspective and decolonizing …

Getting work in Germany can be difficult, especially for migrants. Many end up working illegally, but if they are caught, the penalty can be as severe as prison or deportation. Marion MacGregor/InfoMigrants reports Krasimir has been living in Germany for two years with no fixed address or regular job. He often sleeps in an old van in a junkyard in …

The chocolate industry is worth more than $80 billion a year. But some cocoa farmers in parts of West Africa are poorer now than they were in the 1970s or 1980s. In other areas, artificial support for cocoa farming is creating a debt problem. Farmers are also still under pressure to supply markets in wealthy countries instead of securing their own …

Professor Jason Osai* of the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, writes on man, religion and soul and how to achieve the eternally sought-after global peace devoid of want and war. Institutional religion has divided the world along a multiplicity of jaded philosophical and theological lines thereby creating socio-cultural and economic hedgerows that have pitched husband against wife, mother against …

Self-taught coder develops model for diagnosing breast cancer; looks to solve some of the continent’s biggest challenges and inspires youth across the continent as Africa Code Week Youth Ambassador for 2019. “It takes a village to raise a child”: as the Fourth Industrial Revolution sweeps across Africa and more of its youth develop coding and other digital skills, there may …

It’s always easier and more convenient to enjoy a new country when you have a tour guide. You hardly miss your way going around since you are led by an experienced person who knows the nooks and crannies of the place. This is why the association of German journalists of migrant origin, called “Neue deutsche Medienmacher” (New German Media Professionals), …

Migrants in Germany are expected to learn the language and become familiar with the country’s history, culture and legal system. That’s where integration courses come in. But what exactly are these courses, who can participate, and how many people are taking part? Benjamin Bathke reports. According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) statistics, more than one million …

Distribution of Nigerian movies on Netflix started around 2015. Alessandro Jedlowski, a scholar at the Free University of Brussels, Belgium, takes a look at the global streaming giant’s intervention in the Nigerian film industry and predicts what long-term impact this could have on the worldwide marketing of Nollywood. Global streaming service Netflix set its eyes a few years ago on …

Many new immigrants and refugees are allowed to work. The question is, are they able to work in the same profession they were trained for in their home country? Rey Azizi reports. In Germany, you need to go through a recognition procedure for certain job categories which are regulated by law. Here’s what you need to know in order to …

There are plenty of jobs, training programs and internships in German firms, designed specifically for migrants and refugees. Here is a list of some of the places that you might be able to find work or training compiled by Emma Wallis/InfoMigrants. The German Employment Agency 1) The best place to start if you are looking for a job or training …

Rwandan Stories of Change held an international conference at the University of St Andrews on the 6th of July 2018. We brought together scholars from across the Humanities and Social Sciences to explore how Rwanda has changed since the genocide of 1994. Chijioke Kizito Onah, Masters Student of Anglophone Literatures, Cultures and Media, Goethe University of Frankfurt, Germany, recently attended …

The Schengen area comprises of European countries that have abolished passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. The area mostly functions as a single jurisdiction for international travel purposes, with a common visa policy. The Schengen Agreement, which seeks to create a single European territory devoid of internal borders, was signed by five European Union …

America marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev Martin Luther King Junior Wednesday. Best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights by using the tactics of nonviolence and civil disobedience, King was assassinated on 4 April 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. Is Black America better off today than in Dr King’s time? Our New York-based …

Girls in underwear pose in squalid rooms of converted shops along the narrow streets of Saint-Josse, near Brussels Gare du Nord. African women sell their bodies for as little as 20 euros. Barely half the rate charged by European prostitutes. Outside in the streets, the rates are even lower; 5 euros for a young Nigerian. A price that shocks even …

Editors of the news agency IRIN* sketch out the gloomy-looking horizon in five African countries in the new year. Congo unravels You know the situation is bad when people start fleeing their homes, and it doesn’t get much worse than the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Here, violence in its eastern provinces has triggered the world’s worst displacement crisis – …

Thousands of Zimbabweans from all walks of life celebrated the inauguration of the country’s new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, a man in whom many are placing their hopes for the future. Can he live up to the expectations of his countrymen and women? After a tumultuous two weeks of political brinkmanship, Emmerson Mnangagwa was sworn in on 24 November as Zimbabwe’s …

Since October 2016, protests and strikes related to sectoral demands have escalated into a crisis over the economic and political marginalisation of Cameroon’s Anglophone minority. The crisis reached a new low at the weekend of 30 September-1 October when at least 17 people were shot dead by security forces and 50 wounded, according to Amnesty International. Mbom Sixtus, freelance journalist …

One of the recipients of the MoneyGram-sponsored “Afrika! Community Award 2017” is an organization that promotes Pan-Africanism from the German city of Munich but with a global reach. Femi Awoniyi writes on how a Diaspora initiative is making a positive impact on the worldwide community of people of African descent. Four organisations emerged winners of the maiden edition of the …

In the second and concluding  part of his report on Ghanaians in Germany, journalist, translator and community activist Sam Atsu Nove* writes on the changes in the patterns of Ghanaian migration in the past 40 years and the contribution of the Diaspora to Germany’s and their home  country’s development. ———————————– The economic crisis of the 1970s and 1980s in Ghana …

 Sharon Dodua Otoo*, Berlin-based mother, activist and author, writes to the Black community in Germany on the experiences of children of African heritage in schools and why they need the understanding and support of their parents. A Letter to the Village Dear Elders, You may already know that I am legally required to send my sons to school because we …