One of the priorities of the German G20 Presidency in 2017 is Africa and the challenges the continent is facing as well as its potential. This potential is also the key focus of the AFRIKA KOMMT! initiative, which 19 leading German companies launched in 2008.  The programme trains future managers and fosters German-African economic relations. Word about the initiative has …

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, Muhammad Babandede, has said that plans are underway for the local production of the Nigerian e-passport. Mr Babandede disclosed this on Thursday (13 July) in Abuja when members of the House of Representatives Committee on Interior came on an oversight visit. He said that the NIS was working round the clock with …

UNESCO has added the capital city of Eritrea, Asmara, and two other cultural sites in Angola and South Africa to its prestigious World Heritage List.  The UN cultural organization describes Asmara, located 200m above sea level, as a “Modernist City of Africa”. The capital of Eritrea developed from the 1890’s onwards as a military outpost for the Italian colonial power. …

The Governing Council of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Worldwide (NIDOWW) has assured that the Nigerian Diaspora Day 2017 will take place as scheduled on 25-26 July in Abuja. The body issued a press statement yesterday where it confirmed that it’s taking up the full responsibility for staging the annual event this year following the difficulties encountered by Nigerian National …

Germany-based scholar and author Fekadu Bekele, PhD, offers an original African perspective on the G20 Africa Partnership initiative as he argues that the measures envisaged under the plan do not address the root causes of the social and economic crises in the continent. Dr Bekele posits that the priority of the West and its economic institutions is to keep Africa firmly …

In a remarkable, if coincidental, series of events across Kenya last weekend, nine people were beheaded by suspected al-Shabab militants, the internal security minister suddenly died, the main opposition leader was hospitalised with food poisoning, and the president appeared to accuse the judiciary of trying to delay general elections scheduled to take place in less than a month. The events …

People of African descent are reacting angrily to French President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial remarks about Africa during a press conference at the G20 summit in Hamburg on 8 July. Macron was asked by Philippe Kouhoun, an Ivorian journalist for Afrikipresse, how much the world’s leading economies were ready to spend to help Africa under Germany’s “Marshall Plan for Africa” The …

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has upheld Belgium’s ban on the Islamic full-face veil, rejecting a legal challenge by two Muslim women wearing the niqab. The court sitting in Strasbourg, France, ruled on Tuesday (11 July) that the 2011 Belgian law banning clothing that partly or totally covers the face was not discriminatory and did not violate the …

A shocking video of a Black woman falling headfirst down a narrow flight of stairs in Amsterdam is making the rounds on social media. A Dutchman had pushed an Airbnb renter, a Germany-based South African student, down a staircase in Amsterdam during an argument over check-out time on Sunday (9 July). Sibahle Nkumbi was travelling with two other women and …

An African single air transport market will be launched in January 2018, with 40 plus countries expected to be signatories by then. So far, 20 African countries out of 55 have subscribed to the single air market, announced David Kajange, the head of the transport and tourism division at the African Union (AU). Speaking recently at the 29th AU summit, …