Special

For refugees and migrants seeking to access higher education in Germany, there are two major obstacles: The recognition of diplomas and other official certificates as well as the tedious process of assembling all documents required to apply. Benjamin Bathke of InfoMigrants takes an in-depth look at the admission process, required documents, application fees and more. In Germany, according to estimates …

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has adopted a single currency, named eco, to be launched by 2020. It’s one of the decisions of the 55th ordinary session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the group held on Saturday, 29 June in Abuja, Nigeria, in the presence of 13 of the 15 heads of …

Germany is called the land of ideas in academic circles and for good reasons. There are 427 state-accredited institutions of higher education – universities and polytechnics – in Germany. Together, they offer a total of over 18,000 degree programmes. In this piece Chijioke Kizito Onah, a postgraduate student of the University of Frankfurt and DAAD scholarship recipient, discusses strategies foreign …

German software company SAP and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) plan to jointly create 450 jobs for highly qualified personnel in the IT sector in ten African countries. The collaboration, which was presented in Berlin today by German Development Minister Gerd Müller and by Michael Kleinemeier, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE and …

US-Africa Business Summit successfully advances trade, investment and commercial partnership between the US and Africa Heads of State, Vice Presidents, and Prime Ministers from nine African nations attended the Corporate Council on Africa’s 12th US-Africa Business Summit in Maputo, Mozambique on June 18-21. They were joined by Ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Commerce, Economy, Public Works, and ICT from more …

Concerned with the stagnant state of the nation’s economy marred with inconsistent foreign exchange earnings through oil export, the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) has disclosed that forex remittances from Nigerians in the Diaspora far exceeded the country’s earnings from crude oil export last year. The President of ABCON, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, who disclosed this to …

Rwanda has opened its first gold refinery to process gold from all over Africa and to discourage the export of the minerals from the continent. The new refinery, built at a cost of $5 million by Aldango Company is located at the Kigali Special Economic Zone in Gasabo District. Aldango which was previously running as a business dealing in gold …

As a global trade war rages, Africa fears contagion from lower commodity prices, according to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) latest report, Economic Insight: Africa Q2 2019. The accountancy body provides GDP growth forecasts for various regions including East Africa, which is the region in Africa that was estimated to have experienced the most rapid …

The historic African Continental Free Trade Area agreement went into force on 30 May 2019. Creating the regionally integrated Africa of our dreams, will require political will, policy changes, and private and public sector partnerships, argues Dr Victor Oladokun, Director of Communication, African Development Bank. In 2018, the fictional country of Wakanda in the blockbuster movie Black Panther, was ranked …

How to make African-owned businesses in Germany more resilient and less prone to failure was the theme of one of the workshops held as part of the Africa Day programme in Dortmund on 24-25 May. The event, organised by AfricanTide Union, commemorates the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (now African Union) on 25 May 1963. Clément Klutse, a …

The Migration Enlightenment Project Nigeria (MEPN), a Germany-based initiative promoting safe migration, has noted that criminal human trafficking networks continued to be the main driver of irregular emigration in Nigeria. In view of the thousands of Nigerians stranded in various transit and destination countries around the world where they’re exposed to human rights abuses, the MEPN has issued a brief …

Africa’s future will shape Europe’s destiny, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has told a joint investment forum in Vienna. Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz urged Europe to take on China’s head-start in Africa. Juncker urged European firms on Tuesday to boost their investments in Africa in a “partnership among equals,” reminding the joint European Union and Africa Union forum that Africa’s …

A research by the World Bank has found that Nigerians was the top receiver of cash from the United Kingdom in 2017. Nigeria was ranked the largest remittance recipient in sub-Saharan Africa and the sixth largest amongst lower-middle-income countries. According to the report, Nigerians living in the UK sent £3.27 million back home in 2017. “Remittances to sub-Saharan Africa are …

As the world’s second-largest provider for international money transfers, MoneyGram consistently works to make sending money even easier for its customers than it already is. Now, there is the new MoneyGram-App, which can be downloaded for free from Google Play Store or Apple Store. Once the app is installed on a mobile phone, the desired amount can be on its …

The first-ever Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit took place in Abuja on 27-29 November. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, who delivered the keynote address at the event, and participating ministers outlined opportunities and incentives for Nigerians resident abroad to invest in their homeland. Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, in his address to the conference, asserted that the federal government “strongly seek the …

MoneyGram, the world’s second-largest provider for international money transfer, offers it’s Ghanaian customers many fast and reliable send and receive options. Senders can send cash from their nearest MoneyGram location, send money online or with the new MoneyGram-App to provide financial support to their family and friends in a reliable way – in just a few minutes*. The MoneyGram-App makes …

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo will pay a working visit to Germany on 9-11 December. He will meet with Nigerians, speak at a business event and hold talks with German leaders during the 3-day visit, which aims to promote Nigeria as a favourable place to invest. Prof Osinbajo will hold a town hall interactive meeting with Nigerians living in Germany on Sunday, …

Vice-President’s Keynote Address at the 1st Nigerian Diaspora Investment Summit The first-ever Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit took place in Abuja on 27-29 November. More than 300 Nigerians living outside the country attended the event, which seeks to mobilize the diaspora to invest in Nigeria as part of the present government’s efforts to reposition the national economy. Diaspora investors had the …

The Migration Enlightenment Project Nigeria (MEPN) has called on the Nigerian government to “significantly increase consular support” to Nigerian irregular migrants in the transit and destination countries. The Germany-based group made the call in a press statement, released on Monday 26 November, arguing that stranded migrants, especially in transit, are left totally at the mercy of the very traffickers who …

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will deliver a keynote address at the maiden Nigeria Diaspora Investment Summit (NDIS), which holds in Abuja on 27-29 November. The three-day summit, themed “Activating Diaspora Investment for a Diversified Economy” and holding in the Banquet Hall of the State House, Aso Villa, is to provide a platform for Nigerians in the diaspora to invest in the …