Federal Education Minister Anja Karliczek wants to help students with emergency loans through the corona crisis. Two thirds of students work alongside their studies; for foreign students it is about three quarters. Many of them have lost their jobs as a result of the current corona pandemic. This presents many with financial constraints. From 8 May, students can apply for …

An umbrella organisation of Africans in Germany has called on government not to neglect racism even as it’s making strenuous efforts to curb the spread of the new coronavirus in the country. The group made the call in a press statement, titled COVID-19: Alltagsrassismus kennt kein Ausübungsverbot! (Everyday racism doesn’t recognise official ban), issued on Thursday in Berlin. “The High …

In order to contain the consequences of the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, new measures are adopted almost daily in Germany. But in addition to these short-term new regulations, there are also other laws that will take effect in Germany from May 2020. The African Courier summarises the most important changes here. —— Kurzarbeit: Regulations for additional earnings by short-time …

After a temporary closure of hair salons, part of measures ordered by the government to contain the spread of the coronavirus, hairdressing salons and barber shops may reopen from Monday, 4 May, but only under certain conditions.  Finally, after several weeks you can have your hair cut, styled or dressed again. However, a set of new rules, designed to protect …

No African country is truly free or independent; all of them are still being destabilised and manipulated so that their former European colonisers can still make profit, argues Kalidou Diouf, author and basketball player*. Education is the only way Africa can free itself from the oppression of the first world, he posits in this article written exclusively for The African …

African migrants should be offered temporary work permits in exchange for a cash deposit, a German panel of experts has said. They say the measure would reduce illegal immigration and encourage migrants to return home. Germany should allow migrants from Africa to pay a cash deposit to obtain temporary German work visas, a panel of migrations experts proposed in a …

The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen was founded in 1954 and is not only one of the oldest short film festivals in the world but also one of the major international platforms for the short form. Every year in spring the festival takes place in Oberhausen with this year marking the 66th anniversary. The Corona pandemic has however put a …

Ghana’s founding president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, died on 27 April 1972. To mark the 48th anniversary of his death, our senior contributing editor and author, Jojo Cobbinah, writes from Accra on a brilliant African intellectual and committed leader who did not spend his time marrying countless women, building mansions or stashing millions in foreign banks. Jojo (72), who witnessed Nkrumah’s …

100 African intellectuals have signed an open letter to leaders on the continent, urging them to look critically at the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and to use the lessons from the crisis to spur “radical change”.  The letter, signed by academics, writers and activists from across the continent and the diaspora (*see list at the footnotes), makes …

Global remittances are projected to decline sharply by about 20 percent in 2020 due to the economic crisis induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown, the World Bank has predicted. “The projected fall, which would be the sharpest decline in recent history, is largely due to a fall in the wages and employment of migrant workers, who tend to be …