African leaders have been paying tribute to the former president of Ghana, Jerry Rawlings, who died in the early hours of Thursday after a brief illness. Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, expressed his heartfelt condolences saying “the entire African continent will sorely miss the sterling qualities of the great leader”. He also said he believes that “the passion, discipline …

Former President Jerry John Rawlings is dead, according to Ghanaian media reports. Rawlings, who ruled Ghana for the longest period of its postcolonial history, passed on Thursday (12 November) after a brief illness. He had been hospitalised in Accra for about a week for an undisclosed ailment before his death. He was 73. Rawlings, who was born in Accra on …

The lesser angels of human nature seemed to have dominated the matrix of American politics for the past four years. However, the morning of November 7th, 2020 was historic for three reasons. On one hand, Americans had just come out in the largest numbers in living memory to vote for their 46th president. Secondly, they had elected the first woman to …

As a second wave of coronavirus infections grips Europe, with several countries reporting high levels of daily new infections and deaths, a new vaccine is fuelling hope for an imminent victory over the global pandemic. German pharmaceutical firm BioNTech and its US partner Pfizer announced on Monday the result of tests carried out on a vaccine they were jointly developing. …

Ogoni leaders have called on the Nigerian government to “exonerate” Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others of all wrongdoing, 25 years after they were executed under controversial circumstances by the Sani Abacha-led military regime and despite the intervention by the international community. The 9 Nigerian environmental activists were hanged on 10 November 1995 on the orders of the military dictator after …

On Thursday, 5 November 2020, the Bundestag voted in favour of the Federal Government’s draft law “to strengthen security in passports, identity cards and documents relating to foreigners”. New identity cards will mandatorily contain two fingerprints from August next year. With this Bundestag resolution, Germany is implementing European law. According to the draft law, new requirements will also apply to …

An invitation has gone out to young people of African descent in Germany to participate in the Lead Academy 2020 via Zoom on 24-26 November. The event is organised by Lead Africa International e.V., a global non-governmental organization dealing with development issues. The three-day virtual event precedes the Global Partnership for African Development (G-PAD) 2020 Forum, with the theme Strengthening …

Africa has immense potential for photovoltaics which has barely been utilized up until now. But a pioneering spirit is spreading across the continent, with many countries paving the way for ambitious photovoltaics projects. This is the conclusion of the Intersolar Solarize Africa Market Report 2020, prepared by the Becquerel Institute and the German Solar Association (BSW-Solar) with support from Intersolar …

New quarantine rules for people entering Germany from risk areas enters into force on 8 November. Up to now, anyone returning to Germany from a risk area has been subject to compulsory testing and quarantine. The new regulation provides for a reduction of the quarantine period from 14 to 10 days. What are the new rules? Anyone who has been …

A new documentary film “König Bansah und seine Tochter” (King Bansah and his daughter), which takes viewers to Ludwigshafen, where a chief from Ghana lives and runs a car repair workshop, and on a journey to Africa where he’s a chief who is active in the development of his community – depicting a life between two identities, has won a …