Starting, Tuesday 1 May, and continuing weekly throughout the year, BBC Sport Africa will bring the issues, the personalities, the buzz, the key moments and the trends in sport from across the continent. The 30 minute programme will cover many different sports including those that are little-known, and will be featuring everyone from the most famous sports stars to rising …
Read More »awoniyi270514
More than half of migrants fail official German language test
Around every second migrant in Germany fails the language test at the end of integration courses, a newspaper reports. It suggests a lack of adequate attendance could be one factor in the low success rate. More than half of refugees and migrants to Germany are unable to pass a basic language test at the end of integration courses offered to …
Read More »BBC launches new TV investigative documentary series on Africa
Africa Eye – a new documentary strand from the BBC launches today with an in-depth investigation into the plague of addiction to cough mixture across Nigeria. The new strand will deliver up to 20 original and high-impact investigations from across Africa every year. Nisha Kapur, Commissioning Editor for TV said: “Africa Eye will promote the culture of investigative journalism across …
Read More »Africa loses billions due to high cost of remittances to the continent
Billions of dollars in remittances flowed to Africa in 2017. The money could go further if it wasn’t more expensive to send money to Africa than anywhere else in the world, a new World Bank study finds. Immigrants sent a $38 billion (€31.1 billion) back home to Africa in 2017, according to a new World Bank briefing paper. Nigeria accounts …
Read More »Why we need to stand our ground on Nigerian Diaspora Day 2018, by Kenneth Gbandi
A Press Statement released by Hon. Kenneth Gbandi, Continental Chairman Nigerians in Diaspora Organization Europe, on Saturday 28 April 2018. “There is nothing wrong with Nigeria/Diaspora that cannot be cured by what is right with Nigeria/Diaspora” I am neither a praise singer nor a ‘Yes, Sir’ man. I have always followed my conviction courtesy of the grace and magnanimity of …
Read More »Sirleaf receives Mo Ibrahim prize, to pursue women empowerment
Liberia’s former leader, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has spoken publicly for the first time about what she intends to use her time for as she settles into life after the presidency. The former Nobel Prize laureate and Africa’s first democratically-elected woman president said she was going to continue with issues of women empowerment whiles advancing the cause of good governance across …
Read More »Cameroonians return home from “the worst nightmare” in Libya to start over
A group of 121 migrants from Cameroon have returned home from Libya. The migrants were flown home on a charter flight as part of a program promoted by the European Union. The Cameroonian migrants returned home from Libya to start a new life with assistance from IOM, the UN Migration Agency, and the EU. The returnees left Libya on April …
Read More »WhatsApp bans under-16 users in EU
Popular messaging service WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, has raised the minimum age of users in the European Union from 13 to 16. The move comes ahead of before the new EU-wide General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect on May 25. The new age limit only applies to those living in the EU. “We had to make a trade-off …
Read More »EU granted 500,000 people asylum protection in 2017
EU member states as well as Norway, Iceland and Switzerland granted protection status to 538,000 asylum seekers in 2017, according to new data released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, on Thursday. Another 24,000 refugees were resettled in the region last year. Last year’s asylum seeker figures represent a 25% drop from 2016, when 710,000 asylum seekers …
Read More »Berlin streets to be renamed after African heroes
After more than ten years of agitations, new names for streets in Berlin’s African Quarter linked to the brutal German colonial past in Africa have been found. The representatives of the three major parties on the district council of Wedding (Greens, SPD and Left) have agreed to rename Petersallee, Lüderitzstraße and Nachtigalplatz in honour of African liberation fighters. Lüderitzstraße was …
Read More »Thousands rally in Berlin over rising housing rents
Berliners are calling on the city government to address skyrocketing housing costs as lawmakers dispute recent reports that the German capital has had the biggest price hikes in the world. Elizabeth Schumacher reports. Thousands of people defied the rain in the German capital, Berlin, on Saturday to protest the rising cost of housing amid rampant gentrification. Berlin has the fastest-rising property …
Read More »South Africa bids Winnie Madikizela-Mandela heroic farewell
Politicians, ordinary people, supermodels and heads of state from all over the world came to give testimony to Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, whose impact was felt across the world, at a heroic farewell on Saturday. Zikhona Masala reports from Johannesburg. It was a funeral service that will forever be on the minds and hearts of those that attended and watched. Thousands of …
Read More »AfricanTide Union kicks off training programme for migrant entrepreneurs in Germany
AfricanTide Union, an organization that runs a refugee shelter and multiple programs for migrants and refugees in Dortmund, Germany, inaugurated its latest project on Monday, 9 April. Under the name “Friend”, the association now offers regular training for entrepreneurs with a migration background. “People with a migration background are quick to take entrepreneurial risk. However, it often comes to the …
Read More »Hamburg hosts German-African Energy Forum 2018
Political and business leaders from Germany and Africa will gather at the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce on 24-25 April for the 12th German-African Energy Forum. The annual event offers a platform for players in the energy sector for interaction, networking and deal-making. The event this year will focus on the increasing role of renewable energies in the African continent’s electricity …
Read More »Museum on wheels brings art to West Africa
A group of artists have started a journey across West Africa in a rickety school bus. They want to bring culture to the region with their rolling art space while collecting inspiration for their own works. Adrian Kriesch reports from Lagos. Nigerian-born artist Emeka Udemba looked annoyed. The yellow Mercedes school bus, his new home for the next six weeks, …
Read More »Nigerians protest in London against Buhari’s second term bid
A group of Nigerians living in London yesterday protested against President Muhammadu Buhari, who is currently in the UK on a visit. The protest, held a day after Buhari declared his intention to contest for another term in office at next year’s election, took place at the Abuja House official residence of the Nigerian president in London. The protesters say …
Read More »Germany: Residence permit of anti-Semitic migrants could be withdrawn, says Interior Ministry
Germany’s Interior Ministry supports the Central Council of Jews, whose chairman said those who disrespect German values should be stripped of their right of abode. It comes as Germany grapples with rising anti-Semitism. The chairman of Germany’s Central Council of Jews, Josef Schuster, told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that fines and reprimands were not enough when tackling anti-Semitism and …
Read More »Almost 1 million persons granted EU citizenship
EU countries granted citizenship to around 995,000 people in 2016, according to the latest figures released by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, on Monday (9 April). In 2016, around 995 000 persons acquired citizenship of a Member State of the European Union (EU), up from 841,000 in 2015 and 889,000 in 2014. Of the total number of …
Read More »Berlin hosts first-ever African literary festival in Germany
For the first time, a literary festival devoted to the work of African writers will hold in Germany. From 26-28 April, more than 35 African writers will gather in Berlin for the African Book Festival, featuring readings, poetry, spoken word and theatre performances, panel discussions, book signings and networking events. Among the writers expected in the German capital city are …
Read More »Kenyans dominate Paris Marathon again
Kenyans won the men and women’s Paris Marathon titles on Sunday as, in a piece of theatre calculated by the organisers, the two champions finished almost together. The women’s race started 16min 26sec before the men, the difference in times between the male and female winners last year. Paul Lonyangata retained his men’s crown and also caught and passed Betsy …
Read More »