Dr Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, outgoing Member of the European Parliament, writes on the significance of Gambian parliamentarians’ decision not to rescind the ban on female genital mutilation in the west African country ____________________ Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) remains banned in the Gambia. Despite pressure from religious dignitaries and retrograde groups in society who consider female genital mutilation to be an integral …

Documenting the scene will help protect your legal rights and make it easier to claim compensation Seeing a doctor, even for minor injuries, is vital for maintaining a record of the accident Be prepared for an accident by keeping recording equipment in your car, an expert warns  Getting caught up in a car accident can be a traumatic experience. It’s …

William Chedjou, a Cameroonian, was stabbed to death during an argument over parking space on Thursday evening in Berlin. The incident took place shortly after 6 pm in Böttgerstraße and the victim and perpetrator did not previously know each other, the police said. According to media reports, the 37-year-old man was stabbed in the stomach by a Turkish man, initially …

Wole Soyinka, the literary giant and human rights icon, turns 90 on 13 July. Considering the gamut of his creative work as a dramatist, poet, novelist, essayist, memoirist and wordsmith, the emeritus professor of comparative literature could arguably be described as Africa’s greatest man of letters ever. In 1986, Soyinka became the first African to receive the Nobel Prize in …

For a continent whose merits have been overshadowed by wars, natural disasters, poverty and human displacements, the Nobel Prize for literature awarded to the Nigerian Wole Soyinka in 1986 must have come as a shock to those audiences with little knowledge of the presence of a wealth of contemporary African literatures. This shock could only be the result of years …

Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka turns 90 on 13 July. Femi Awoniyi and Michael Nnaji look at the life of the literary giant as a political and rights activist in the service of humanity. Born Oluwole Akinwande Soyinka on 13 July 1934 in Abeokuta, south-western Nigeria, this truly great man of many parts is often wrongly reduced to the Nobel Prize …

Hi again, Nesa here. Welcome back to the second episode of my journey. Today, we dive into my experience relocating from Ghana to Germany, a journey that redefined my path and taught me invaluable lessons about resilience, starting afresh, and seizing opportunities. To be honest, I never imagined I would settle in Germany. Born here but raised in Ghana, I …

Karamba Diaby, the first African-born member of the German parliament, has announced that he would not run in next year’s federal election. Dr Diaby, who was first elected into the Bundestag in 2013, wants to spend more time with his family and make way for younger politicians. Here’s the public statement he issued on Wednesday to announce his decision not …

ANNOUNCEMENT After some anxiety about the future of the African Music Festival, we are now all the more pleased to be able to present this year’s wonderful programme (1-4 August) under the motto “We are one”! Thanks to the great support of many people who donated, contributed to the crowd-funding campaign and took part in the benefit concerts, we were …

Concerned about their homeland, which is experiencing tough economic times, Nigerians in Germany will gather in Berlin on 27 July. The summit, which will feature expert panel discussions, an exhibition of Nigerian start-ups and cultural events, will produce a communique with recommendations for the Nigerian government. Nigeria is currently experiencing challenging economic conditions due to significant policy decisions implemented by …

The Africa Centre London has rolled out an elaborate programme to celebrate the life of Wole Soyinka, the first African Nobel laureate in Literature (1986), to mark the Nigerian writer’s 90th birthday. From Friday, July 19 to Saturday, July 27, The Africa Centre will come alive with exhibitions, roundtables, film screenings, live music performances and poetry recitals to celebrate the …

In her new short autobiographic book, Cologne-based legal scholar and creative author Nesa narrates her story, of an African girl who was born in Germany but raised in the continent and now lives in the country of her birth. This is the first episode of Nesa’s chronicle Hi, I’m Nesa, and over the next ten weeks, I’ll be taking you …

Our contributing editor Tina Adomako reviews “Afrika in Mode. Luxus, Handwerk und textiles Erbe”, a new book written by Ghanaian designer Ken Kweku Nimo, in which African fashion designers narrate African fashion history. “African” fashion has found its way into the Western fashion world for over a hundred years. Even when Black people were downgraded as primitive, it was and …

A street has been named after the Afro-American poet and civil rights activist Audre Lorde in Berlin. Audre-Lorde-Strasse was inaugurated with a ceremony on the corner of Audre-Lorde-Str./Muskauer Str on Friday (28 June 2024). Among the personalities who attended the event were Clara Herrmann (district mayor of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg) and Werner Heck (head of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district council) as well as …

The reformed Citizenship Law entered into effect on 27 June 2024 and it’s expected to make it easier for foreign residents to become German nationals. Among the features of the legislation, the ‘Act on the Modernisation of Citizenship Law’ (das Gesetz zur Modernisierung des Staatsangehörigkeitsrechts (StARModG)), are that foreigners living legally in Germany will be able to apply for a …

The Association of Yoruba Progressive Community (AYPC) Bayern e.V. is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its founding. The group’s members are from the Yoruba-speaking areas of Nigeria living in the state of Bavaria and they support each other as well as promote their culture in Germany. Events commemorating the milestone commenced on 1 June in the Bavarian city of Munich …

The new month brings many changes that directly affect different areas of life in Germany. Pensions rise significantly, change of surnames now easier, breast cancer screening for older women, cannabis cultivation now allowed, black box to be mandatory for cars etc. Here’s an overview of all important changes in July 2024.   Pensions rise significantly Pensions will rise by 4.57 …

The 2024 edition of the Yoruba (Nigeria) Cultural Festival takes place in Austria on 26-29 June. Organised by Egbe omo Oduduwa Austria, the festival, which holds annually in the capital city of Vienna, showcases the rich cultural heritage of the Yoruba people of Nigeria and promotes the country’s tourism potential. It also helps to foster friendly relations between Nigeria and …

Germany is not obliged to automatically recognise persons seeking protection as refugees because they already have been granted refugee status in another EU country. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in Luxembourg on Tuesday that the states of the European Union are not obliged to take such action. Background to the case: A Syrian national who obtained refugee status …

New research has revealed the most popular stocks in Germany, with Tesla coming out on top. The study by Journo Research, with the help of global fintech group Plus500, analysed the last 12 months of Google search data for 300 companies to see which ones received the most average monthly searches. It found that Tesla is Germany’s most popular stock, with …