THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
A new Honorary Consul for Ghana for the German city of Dortmund has been named. Klaus Wegener was presented with his Certificate of Appointment by President Nana Akufo-Addo on 22 October in Accra.
Mr Wegener, who is also the president of the Auslandsgesellschaft – a German organisation that promotes international understanding, replaces Manfred Schröder, who resigned in 2016 after many years of representing Ghana in the city.
Honorary consuls are designated by a foreign government to look after the affairs of its citizens. They also handle issues like visas and facilitate trade and friendship between the people of the two countries.
Honorary consuls are not career diplomats; they’re volunteers who do not have to be citizens of the country they’re representing. In fact, they’re usually citizens of the host country.
North Rhine-Westphalia, where Dortmund is located, is the partner of Ghana in Germany.
With the assumption of office of Wegener, Ghana now has four honorary consulates in Germany. These are in Dortmund, Hamburg, Munich and Hanover.
Sola Jolaoso
