French President François Hollande has reaffirmed his commitment to peace in Mali in an address to more than 30 African leaders gathered at the 27th Africa-France Summit in Bamako on Saturday, 14 January.  The annual conference, which took place in the Malian capital this year, discussed cross-border jihad, governance challenges and Africa’s role in the European migrant crisis. Malian President …

Heads of State of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have issued a 19 January deadline for the resolution of the Gambian political crisis. The leaders made the decision on the Gambian political crisis at the weekend where they met at the fringes of the 27th Africa-France summit in Mali’s capital Bamako. They repeated their calls on President …

Ahmed Hussen, who arrived in Canada as a refugee at the age of 16, is also the first Somali-Canadian to hold a seat in Parliament.

The African Union (AU) will cease to recognise Yahya Jammeh as Gambia’s president as of 19 January, when his mandate expires, the organisation’s Peace and Security Council said on Friday, 13 January. The decision comes as West African leaders failed in a last-ditch effort to persuade Jammeh to accept his election defeat to opposition candidate Adama Barrow and step down. …

The number of asylum seekers arriving in Germany last year has dropped by two-thirds to about 280,000. Berlin said the decrease signals that measures to reduce migration are working. Some 280,000 migrants arrived in Germany last year, a stark reversal in numbers after the country received nearly 890,000 refugees during the 2015 migration crisis, according to year-end government figures released …

Last ditch attempt by regional leaders to persuade Gambia’s President Yahya Jammeh to give up power peacefully at the end of his term have ended in Banjul without any breakthrough. According reports, Presidents Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia and ex-President Mahama of Ghana were unable to convince Mr Jammeh to respect last month’s election results and facilitate …

Our special correspondent Adira Kallo reviews the 31st edition of the biennial international men’s football championship, the Africa Cup of Nations, taking place in Gabon from 14 January to 5 February. He writes that the world of football can confidently look forward to a classy display of the beautiful game at AFCON 2017 All eyes will focus on Gabon from …

Originally from Nigeria, I am now German and have lived in Germany since 1989. I’m happily married to a German woman and we have four children. I quickly learnt that you need the German language and education in this country to achieve your goal. For this reason, I first learnt the language and obtained technical education training. I’m a mechatronics …

Germany is set to launch tougher security measures for asylum seekers and refugees who are not properly documented or deemed to pose a security threat. The new measures, agreed upon on Tuesday, 10 January will make it easier for the authorities to electronically tag immigrants considered a security risk, as well as those required to leave Germany but who have …

Muslim girls at Swiss schools must attend swimming lessons including both boys and girls, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled, rejecting a case filed by two parents who wanted their daughters exempted from the classes on religious grounds. The court found on Tuesday, 10 January that, although the Basel school had “interfered with” religious freedom by insisting …