The 2022 Ghanaian Cultural Festival will feature music, diverse traditional dancing displays, food, drinks and a bazaar. A colourful parade of Germany-based chiefs and queens from various regions of Ghana will be a major highlight of the festival

What began in 1992 with a modest selection of "Films from West Africa" in Cologne's smallest cinema, the Filmpalette, has developed over three decades into Germany's most important and comprehensive presentation of contemporary filmmaking from all parts of Africa and its worldwide diaspora.

Artists get ideas for their works from what they see and experience around them through the process of socialisation. Others say they get these images from their dreams and from visits by the ancestral spirits while meditating.

Our contributing editor, Frank Stenner, pays tribute to one of Nigeria’s musical giants, Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe, fifteen years after his demise —–      “In my life and my creations,       I have tried to follow my destiny       which is my music.       That is my journey.       I live with the gift of God.”       [from Osita Osadebe: “Ana Masi Ife Uwa” (“Sound Time” 2001)] Chief …

A 16-year-old refugee from Senegal was shot dead by the police in the western German city of Dortmund on 8 August. Mohamed Lamine Dramé, an unaccompanied minor was being catered for in a youth residential group. Days before his death, he had sought in-patient treatment due to psychological problems. On 8 August, a guardian called the police after Mouhamed had …

The German government has suspended its participation in the UN military mission in Mali until further notice, Deutsche Welle (DW) reported. Berlin took the decision on Friday after Malian authorities did not allow a German military plane access to the country’s airspace. “Again those in power in Mali have not allowed the UN MINUSMA mission access to its airspace. A …

Against the prediction of pundits, Kenya’s current deputy president, William Ruto, clinched the top job at the country’s general election albeit with the narrowest of margins. The self-styled ‘hustler’ won 7,176,141 votes (50.49%) to defeat veteran politician Raila Odinga (6,942,930 or 48.85%), to become Kenya’s fifth president since independence from the British in 1963. The 55-year-old Ruto, who calls himself …

A protest march will be held by the Black community in Cologne on Saturday (20 August) to express its anger at the police killing of Mohamed Lamin Dramé. The 16-year-old refugee from Senegal was shot dead by a policeman on 8 August in Dortmund during an operation. According to the protest organisers – Sonnenblumen Community Development Group e.V., N-Wort Stoppen, …

“The living situation in Nigeria is catastrophic, inflation is driving food prices to unaffordable levels, hunger is rampant. The security situation is worse than ever. Boko Haram terror, violence, attacks and kidnappings create a climate of constant fear”

If you are looking for an additional reason to spend the Christmas-New Year season in Ghana, here is one: Accra will host the biggest names and future stars in Afrobeats on 29-30 December. Afro Nation, which dubs itself as the world’s biggest Afrobeats festival, will move its giant stages from Portugal to the Black Star Square in Accra, where Ghana’s …