A community of African bloggers is slowly emerging in Germany with a growing number of bloggers who share their personal experiences for others to learn from, creating a veritable platform for information exchange. A Berlin meeting brought them together for the first time last Friday. Femi Awoniyi reports. African bloggers gathered in Berlin on 2 November for the first Afro-Bloggers …

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation has released its annual assessment of the quality of governance in African countries. The 2018 Ibrahim Index names Mauritius as the best-governed and Somalia the worst-governed among the 54 countries in the continent. The Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) ), which was launched in 2007, is generated by measuring Safety & Rule of Law, Participation …

According to the EU’s statistical office, Eurostat, unemployment in the 28-member state EU stood at 6.7% in September 2018, the lowest monthly rate since January 2000. Eurostat also noted that the unemployment rate among the 19 EU states using the euro stood at 8.1 percent in September, the lowest since 2008. Compared with September 2017, unemployment fell by 1.793 million …

Former Ghana Football Association President Kwesi Nyantakyi has announced that he would be heading to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to appeal against a decision by FIFA to ban him for life. FIFA handed a life-ban from all football activities to Nyantakyi on Tuesday for various violations of their ethics code, including bribery and corruption. He was also …

Nigerians in the Diaspora are very concerned with the situation of their home country which is why it’s always the main topic whenever they gather. The time of talking seems to be nearing its end as some are now venturing into the political terrain at home to make their impact felt. One of the Diaspora Nigerians contesting at the country’s …

The UN migration agency has launched a radio series in Nigeria to sensitise vulnerable people seeking to pursue economic opportunities abroad on the perils of irregular migration. The International Organisation of Migration (IOM) said no fewer than 37,550 Nigerians arrived on Italian shores in 2016 while many went missing or died. The UN agency warned that migration done outside the …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for more private investment in Africa as she hosted African leaders as part of a concerted effort to drive the continent’s economic development and create jobs for its millions of unemployed youths. In her opening address on Tuesday at the G20 Compact with Africa Summit, taking place in Berlin on 30-31 October, Merkel said …

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has opened Istanbul’s new airport, expected to become the world’s busiest. Erdogan named the new facility Istanbul Airport, ending months of speculation over its name, on Monday. “Istanbul is not only our largest city,” he said before a massive crowd of dignitaries, officials, and journalists, gathered beneath the vaulted ceiling of the airport terminal, “It …

William Ijeh, a senior official of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), is vying for one of the global organisation’s top positions at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2018, taking place in Dubai from 29 October-16 November. Mr Ijeh, a Nigerian national who has worked with the Geneva-based ITU for 21 years, is a candidate for the post of Director, Bureau of …

Presidents and heads of government of eleven African countries are to participate at the G-20 Compact with Africa (CwA) conference, hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin. The event, Investment Summit-German Business and the CwA Countries, taking place on 30-31 October brings together “reform-minded” African countries, international organizations and bilateral partners from the G20 to advertise investment opportunities in …

“I will not be seeking any political post after my tenure ends,” Angela Merkel told a news conference in Berlin on Monday. After 18 years, Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced her decision to step down as the leader of the governing CDU. Merkel made the announcement on Monday after a meeting of the party’s leadership in Berlin. “This chancellorship is …

A newly launched advocacy organisation Part Worn Africa is calling for governments and regulatory bodies across the African continent to develop and enforce stronger regulations governing the sale of part-worn and second-hand tyres. Part Worn Africa will advocate that part-worn and second tyres be universally and stringently regulated according to rigorous standards and specifications in the same vein as those …

In Europe, clocks will be set back one hour in the night from October 27 to October 28. That night, you can sleep an hour longer. Sunday, 28 October 2018, 03:00:00 clocks are turned backward 1 hour to Sunday, 28 October 2018, 02:00:00 local standard time instead. Since 1996, EU law has been moving clocks forward an hour on the …

Kenyan superstar runner Eliud Kipchoge has been named as the UN Person of the Year by the United Nations team in Kenya. Kipchoge, 33, is regarded as the greatest marathon runner of the modern era. He set a new marathon record in September with a time of two hours one minute 39 seconds in Berlin. Kipchoge burst onto the international …

Ethiopia’s House of Peoples’ Representatives and the House of Federation, in a joint session held on Thursday (October 25) elected Ambassador Sahlework Zewde as the 4th President of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. She is the first woman to occupy what is largely a ceremonial office. Zewde’s election followed the resignation of the outgoing President, Mulatu Teshome. In her first …

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, who is sub-Saharan Africa’s oldest leader at 85, has easily won a seventh term, according to the Constitutional Council. Biya won 71.3 percent of the October 7 election, far ahead of opposition candidate Maurice Kamto’s 14.2 percent, council president Clement Atangana said, announcing the official results in a state television broadcast on Monday. The council, which …

According to the Federal Statistical Office, the number of people dependent on social assistance dropped in 2017 and, in particular, the number of recipients under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act declined sharply. The number of people in Germany who depend on minimum social assistance (Sozialhilfe) has fallen. As reported by the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden on Friday (20 October), …

The puzzle over the whereabouts of Nnamdi Kanu, who has not been since 14 September 2017 when soldiers invaded his home in south-eastern city of Aba, was solved in an unexpected manner last week. Videos suddenly emerged on social media on Thursday, showing the founder of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a group agitating for a separate country for …

Benin City in Nigeria’s south is a hub for illegal migration in West Africa. That’s why the German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW), within the framework of its 77 Percent youth project, held a town hall debate on 18 October. DW’s Maja Braun was there and she sums up the event. Aigbe Omoregie is one of those who made it. …

With about three weeks to the annual general meeting of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe (NIDOE), the body’s chairman, Hon. Kenneth Gbandi, has called on members to update their membership. Gbandi made the call on Thursday to draw the attention of members to NIDOE‘s rule which demands that only members who have paid their dues up to date would …