February, 2017

• 2 February

  Germany begins payment to asylum seekers to voluntarily return to their home countries

  Administered by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) in co-operation with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the initiative aims to financially reward asylum applicants if they are willing to return to their homelands. About 40 million euros ($43 million) has been set aside for payments

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• 1 February

  Nigeria: It’s now death penalty for kidnappers in Lagos State! Governor Ambode signs law

  Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode on Wednesday (1 February) signed into law the anti-kidnapping bill recently passed by the State House of Assembly, with a pledge to ensure its full implementation to eradicate kidnapping once and for all in the State. The Prohibition of the Act of Kidnapping Law imposes a penalty of life imprisonment on kidnapping for ransom. …

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• 1 February

  41 Nigerians deported from the UK arrive Lagos

  No fewer than 41 Nigerians, which included 33 males and 8 females,  deported from the United Kingdom to Nigeria arrived Lagos today (1 February). The deportees arrived at the cargo terminal of Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja in an unmarked Airbus aircraft which touched ground at exactly 7:40 a.m. According to the correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria …

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January, 2017

• 31 January

  “Much has been done to see that foreigners are integrated,” Diana Mouzales-Napp on how she was supported to become self-employed in Germany

  My father is Greek and my mother is Ghanaian. I came to Germany in the late 1990s to learn the German language and be a bilingual secretary. And Cupid’s arrow pierced my heart. The Germans are a down-to-earth people and I was fascinated by their difficult language. It was not an easy road considering the language barrier when I first …

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• 31 January

  Gambia: Jammeh’s top general arrested, weapons seized in ex-president’s private residence

  Efforts by the West African force deployed in The Gambia to secure the nation’s presidential transition have yielded a big success. General Francois Ndiaye, who leads the force of the Economic Community of West African States Military Intervention in Gambia (ECOMIG), said on Monday (30 January) that it had recovered arms and ammunition stored in ex-President Yahya Jammeh’s private residence …

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• 31 January

  Cameroon widens clampdown to curb Anglophone protests

  After cutting off the English-speaking regions from the Internet, targeting media outlets and stripping Cameroon’s beauty queen of her crown for speaking her mind, the government has now set its sights on journalists, reports Cristina Krippahl. The Cameroonian government seems especially worried that word gets out into the world about the situation in Anglophone regions. Journalists working for the international …

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• 31 January

  Renaissance opens its first hotel in Sub-Saharan Africa in Lagos

    Renaissance Hotels, a worldwide brand of hotels and resorts owned by Marriott International, has announced the opening of its first hotel in Sub-Saharan Africa – the Renaissance Lagos Ikeja Hotel located in Nigeria’s commercial centre. Mark Satterfield, chief operating officer, Middle East and Africa, Marriott International said: “We are delighted to mark the debut of Renaissance Hotels in Nigeria …

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• 30 January

  African leaders elect Chad’s foreign minister as new AU Commission chairperson

  African Union (AU) leaders, attending the ongoing 28th Summit of the organization in Addis Ababa, have elected Chad’s Foreign Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat as the new chairman of the AU Commission, succeeding South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. The 56-year-old seasoned diplomat beat his Kenyan counterpart, Amina Mohamed, after seven rounds, an indication of how keen the race was. Five candidates vied …

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• 30 January

  SPD nominates Schulz to take on Merkel for German Chancellor

    Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) have nominated Martin Schulz as their chairman and chancellor candidate for the country’s next elections. The former European Parliament president was unanimously chosen by the party’s executive committee on Sunday (29 January) to run against Chancellor Angela Merkel of the centre-right CDU at the next general polls on 24 September. Accepting the nomination in front …

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• 29 January

  Gambia no longer an Islamic republic, says new president at first press conference

    President Adama Barrow of The Gambia has promised to run a transparent government with zero tolerance for corruption. Addressing his first world press conference on Saturday (28 January) in Banjul, Barrow vowed that he would demand “complete financial transparency” from members of his government. He said his ministers would have to declare their assets before assuming office. The president …

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