Special

The new EU ‘Delegated Regulation’ on strong customer authentication enters into force on Saturday (14 September 2019). You have to identify yourself in two different ways to complete an online purchase or bank transaction.

Muftau Muyiwa* writes on the changing narrative of Africa. Once depicted as a “hopeless” place incapable of installing and sustaining democratic rule or effective governance, it’s now being trumped as a continent of opportunities. The author explains that Africa has always been a haven of business and economic opportunities and what the world must do engage the continent’s reality to …

Deutsche Telekom has announced that its 5G mobile network had gone live in five German cities. 5G is the fifth generation cellular network technology, offering faster speeds and more reliable connections on smartphones and other devices than ever before. Deutsche Telekom, the German communications market leader, paid 2.2 billion euros for 5G spectrum at a recent auction and the regulator …

The British Government has announced that international students will henceforth be able to stay and work in the UK after graduating. This is a huge boost to a policy that had previously restricted the period to four months. There will be no cap on the number of students who can apply, as those with student visa will be able to …

Afrolynk, an organisation that promotes increased African-European business relationship with a focus on technology, will hold its 2019 conference in Berlin, Germany, from 16-20 September. The five-day ‘Africa Tech & Entrepreneurship Week’ will feature workshops, an ecosystem tour and a start-up night.    This year’s conference, with the theme ‘strategic partnerships for sustainable growth’, will focus on how to transform businesses …

The initiative is aligned with the government’s An Agenda for Jobs: Creating Prosperity and Equal Opportunity for All, and Ghana’s commitment to positioning the country as a global entrepreneurship and technology hub.

More than 25 percent of development aid funds are not spent in developing countries, according to a new study, which shows that expenditure on refugees in Germany takes increasing share of overseas assistance. Researchers warn of the risks of this policy. A significant part of funds for development aid is spent by rich donors within their own borders. This is …

Baden-Württemberg passed a law requiring non-EU students to pay €1,500 ($1,700) per semester in tuition fees. It came into effect in October 2017. Consequently, seven universities in the state lost a third of their international students that year.

The SAP Quality Awards were established in 2005 as a means of recognising companies that have excelled in their use of SAP technologies to achieve digital transformation against a number of key metrics. This year, a total of 19 organisations from West, East and Southern Africa were recognised for their outstanding results across a number of successful implementations.

Germany has become the most popular country in the world for foreign students in the non-English speaking world. A new study released by two academic services found that students were attracted by better prospects. Ben Knight of DW reports Germany has overtaken France as the most popular non-English speaking country for international students, according to a new study. Germany came …

More than one hundred Human Resource (HR) Professionals have gathered in Accra for the 2019 Ghana HR Summit organised by Mercer, a global consulting leader in advancing health, wealth and career , in partnership with Learning Organisation Ghana to brainstorm on the future of work and how it will be created.  The two-day Summit which started on 13 August 2019 took …

Until now, used vehicles sold in most African countries are usually from Western Europe, United States and Japan. The announcement that China had joined the trade of supplying second-car cars to the continent is causing jitters among other exporters. The news came unexpectedly two days ago. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced that it had commenced the export of used …

A business association wants to lure German start-ups with millions of euros to the African continent. They should benefit from the economic upturn there. The Germany Africa Business Forum (GABF) wants to promote German energy start-ups with several million euros. This was announced by the private association, which has its offices in Berlin and Johannesburg. GABF co-founder Sebastian Wagner said: …

How to make African women more visible as entrepreneurs and not only as employees in Germany was the theme of the 10th Economic Forum of the Pan-African Women’s Day, which took place on Friday, 26 July at the Chamber of Commerce (IHK) in Potsdam, Germany. The Day (celebrated each year on 31 August) is also a contribution to the UN …

Money sent by people living outside their countries of origin accounts for the largest foreign exchange inflow for many nations, indicating the huge importance remittances have assumed as a factor of economic development. For example, Africa received an estimated US$65 billion in remittances in 2018. Sending money to the continent is however more expensive than sending to any other region …

Rwanda took a big step forward in its quest for industrialisation on Monday when the first “Made in Rwanda” Volkswagen Polo rolled off the assembly line in the Kigali Special Economic Zone. President Paul Kagame, personally graced the “historic moment” and he expressed his delight to see German vehicles produced in his country. He described the event as “a pride …

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the world’s largest funding organisation for the international exchange of students and researchers, is offering fully-funded postgraduate placements for Developing Countries. These programs are open to pursuing a postgraduate degree program at German institutions of Higher education. With its development-oriented postgraduate study programs, DAAD Development promotes the training of specialists of new industrial countries. Benefits …

The Nigerian government has agreed to a deal with the German energy company in an attempt to fix the country’s unreliable electricity grid. But will the agreement bring succour to Nigerians who have been suffering under inadequate power supply for decades? Ineke Mules of DW (Deutsche Welle) reports Nigeria has signed a six-year power deal with German energy giant Siemens, which …

Many organisations and individuals working on African issues presented their work to the public at the Fair for Bridge Builders (Messe der Brückenbauer), part of the activities celebrating the Kenako Afrika-Festival in Berlin (3-14 July). The fair is a platform for committed people from Germany and the African diaspora to exhibit their projects for the development of Africa and present …

The Federal Government has appointed Dr Sylvie Nantcha as a member of a technical commission on migration. The task of the 24-member commission is to identify “the root causes of flight and irregular migration” and it has until the end of next year to make concrete recommendations for action on how to tackle the issues. Flight and migration are among …