On 1 October the Council of the EU gave its final green light to new rules for more effective returns of people with no legal right to stay in the EU. The regulation is due to come into force in the coming weeks. Because it is a regulation rather than a directive, it applies directly in all 27 member states. …

Ethiopian Airlines will resume direct flights between Addis Ababa and Durban from 11 December 2026, creating a new travel option for passengers from Germany and other European markets travelling to South Africa via the airline’s Addis Ababa hub. The Ethiopian flag carrier announced on 29 September that it will operate the Durban service daily, making the South African city its …

When Dr Sylvie Nantcha entered Freiburg’s city council in 2009, her election was more than a personal political achievement. She became the first Afro-German CDU councillor elected to a municipal parliament in Germany. Seventeen years later, that pioneering role has been turned into art. Swiss-Haitian artist Sasha Huber has portrayed Nantcha as part of her international The Firsts series, which …

Ghana’s president says his country’s forthcoming African Union chairmanship could provide an opportunity to bring Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America closer through trade and economic cooperation Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama has proposed closer economic integration between Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, saying Ghana will use its forthcoming chairmanship of the African Union to pursue stronger links between …

– ADVERTISEMENT – Travel Tip of the Month | Brought to you by Reiseservice Sacco — Your Trusted West Africa Travel Specialist Exciting news for the Nigeria community in Germany and Europe: Ethiopian Airlines is launching a new route to Port Harcourt — via Addis Ababa — starting 1 December 2026. More connections. More options. More ways to get home. …

The Dangote Refinery may have solved one of Nigeria’s most stubborn problems: producing refined petroleum at home. But what happens when one company becomes so important that its success begins to matter to the entire national economy? In his latest analysis, Collins Nweke looks beyond the refinery’s headline-making public offering and forthcoming expansion to examine the bigger questions: Can Nigeria …

A renewed online campaign defending female genital mutilation in Mali has prompted Dr Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana to speak out. Drawing on her Malian connection, having been born in the country, and her decades of advocacy for women’s rights, the former European Parliament member calls for stronger protection of girls, challenges the misuse of religion and tradition, and urges Mali to finally …

For travellers, the strength of a passport can make a significant difference to how easily they can cross borders. A new 2026 ranking by Passport Reports compares passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without obtaining a visa in advance, including destinations offering visa-free entry, visa on arrival or electronic travel authorisation (ETA). The latest data …

New results from the OECD’s PISA 2025 study, published this week, confirm a pattern that has followed German education policy for years: how well a child does in school in Germany still depends heavily on their family’s social background — and children with a migration history are disproportionately affected, since they are more likely to come from socially disadvantaged families …

A new analysis from the German Economic Institute (IW) projects that Germany could be short 723,000 skilled workers by 2029 — almost double 2025’s shortfall — with sectors that already lean heavily on immigrant labour, from care work to construction, among the hardest hit. Germany’s skilled-worker shortage is set to widen sharply over the next three years, according to a …