Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been awarded the Women’s Prize for Fiction ‘Winner of Winners’ for her novel Half of a Yellow Sun.  The book was voted the best book to have won the Women’s Prize for Fiction, formerly known as the Orange Prize and the Bailey’s Prize, in its 25-year history. The Nigerian-born author, who won the prize in 2007, …

A coalition of Nigerian-American organisations in the US has pledged its support to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris. This was conveyed in a congratulatory message by the Organisation for the Advancement of Nigerians on behalf of 18 other professional, religious and socio-cultural bodies. “On behalf of Nigerian-American communities in the United States, please accept our warm congratulations on …

The Director-General of Nigeria’s National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Mrs Julie Okah-Donli, has been appointed as the new chair of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons (UNVTF). A statement titled ‘Press release on appointment of DG NAPTIP as new chair of UNVTF’ by Olivia …

The Chinese government has on Friday, broken its silence on the US elections by congratulating the President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris, according to media reports. The reaction was attributed to China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin. “We respect the choice of the American people. We extend congratulations to Biden and Harris. “We understand the results of the US …

A total of 41 Sierra Leonean students awarded Chinese Government scholarships this year have received financial support to augment their online studies, the Chinese Embassy in Sierra Leone said on Friday. The Embassy said that the students were awaiting their departure for various universities in China in 2021. “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all the international students have to take …

“The morning of 7 November 2020 has shown the world that America’s long nightmare is finally over and better angels of our nature have prevailed,” writes David Monda* from New York. He analyses how the incoming Joe Biden’s administration will most likely interact with Africa, especially in the areas of economic relations and promotion of democracy.  —– The lesser angels …

African leaders have been paying tribute to the former president of Ghana, Jerry Rawlings, who died in the early hours of Thursday after a brief illness. Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, expressed his heartfelt condolences saying “the entire African continent will sorely miss the sterling qualities of the great leader”. He also said he believes that “the passion, discipline …

Former President Jerry John Rawlings is dead, according to Ghanaian media reports. Rawlings, who ruled Ghana for the longest period of its postcolonial history, passed on Thursday (12 November) after a brief illness. He had been hospitalised in Accra for about a week for an undisclosed ailment before his death. He was 73. Rawlings, who was born in Accra on …

The lesser angels of human nature seemed to have dominated the matrix of American politics for the past four years. However, the morning of November 7th, 2020 was historic for three reasons. On one hand, Americans had just come out in the largest numbers in living memory to vote for their 46th president. Secondly, they had elected the first woman to …

As a second wave of coronavirus infections grips Europe, with several countries reporting high levels of daily new infections and deaths, a new vaccine is fuelling hope for an imminent victory over the global pandemic. German pharmaceutical firm BioNTech and its US partner Pfizer announced on Monday the result of tests carried out on a vaccine they were jointly developing. …

Ogoni leaders have called on the Nigerian government to “exonerate” Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others of all wrongdoing, 25 years after they were executed under controversial circumstances by the Sani Abacha-led military regime and despite the intervention by the international community. The 9 Nigerian environmental activists were hanged on 10 November 1995 on the orders of the military dictator after …

On Thursday, 5 November 2020, the Bundestag voted in favour of the Federal Government’s draft law “to strengthen security in passports, identity cards and documents relating to foreigners”. New identity cards will mandatorily contain two fingerprints from August next year. With this Bundestag resolution, Germany is implementing European law. According to the draft law, new requirements will also apply to …

An invitation has gone out to young people of African descent in Germany to participate in the Lead Academy 2020 via Zoom on 24-26 November. The event is organised by Lead Africa International e.V., a global non-governmental organization dealing with development issues. The three-day virtual event precedes the Global Partnership for African Development (G-PAD) 2020 Forum, with the theme Strengthening …

Africa has immense potential for photovoltaics which has barely been utilized up until now. But a pioneering spirit is spreading across the continent, with many countries paving the way for ambitious photovoltaics projects. This is the conclusion of the Intersolar Solarize Africa Market Report 2020, prepared by the Becquerel Institute and the German Solar Association (BSW-Solar) with support from Intersolar …

New quarantine rules for people entering Germany from risk areas enters into force on 8 November. Up to now, anyone returning to Germany from a risk area has been subject to compulsory testing and quarantine. The new regulation provides for a reduction of the quarantine period from 14 to 10 days. What are the new rules? Anyone who has been …

A new documentary film “König Bansah und seine Tochter” (King Bansah and his daughter), which takes viewers to Ludwigshafen, where a chief from Ghana lives and runs a car repair workshop, and on a journey to Africa where he’s a chief who is active in the development of his community – depicting a life between two identities, has won a …

Joseph Robinette Biden of the Democratic Party on Saturday said he is “honored and humbled“ by the trust the American people had placed in him and Vice-President elect, Kamala Harris. Biden has won Tuesday’s presidential election to become the 46th elected President of the United States. In a statement, Biden said he was “honoured and humbled“ by the trust the …

In a sign that it may become increasingly difficult to cross the Mediterranean on boat, a major route of irregular migration to Europe from Africa, Libya’s coast guard intercepted about 1,000 migrants and returned them to Libya within three days in the past week. From Sunday until Tuesday, a total of 935 migrants who tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea …

Coronavirus continues to spread rapidly in Germany. The number of registered new infections has reached a new record level of 21,506 cases within one day on Thursday. It was the highest single-day rise since the pandemic began, according to the country’s centre for disease prevention, Robert-Koch-Institute (RKI), in its report on Friday morning . Thursday’s caseload was an increase by …

An unfortunate effect of COVID-19, to include on the already long list, is that news stories which would usually make the headlines are either not being reported or are consigned to the back pages. What can happen is that governments then feel able to ignore important issues safe in the knowledge that they may be less likely to be challenged.