LIVING IN GERMANY

Employees of African origin in Berlin’s tech companies have started a group to promote diversity in the sector. Called “Black in Tech Berlin”, the group networks and shares ideas to bring change in the industry, where Black people are underrepresented. It counts six hundred members and was founded by Kave Bulambo, who is originally from the DR Congo but grew …

A new magazine, published bimonthly and bilingual in English and German to serve self-employed Africans in Germany, was launched at a colourful ceremony on Saturday in the western German city of Dortmund. The African Merchant (TAM) would support African entrepreneurship by focusing on opportunities and challenges of self-employment in Germany, Dr Rosalyn Dressman, publisher of the new magazine, said at …

As Nigeria celebrates the 60th anniversary of its independence from British colonial rule, a group representing the Yoruba people of Africa’s most populous country rallied in major cities across the world on Thursday to express their desire for national self-determination.

Some new laws and regulations enter into effect in October. As the number of coronavirus infections is significantly rising again, Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of the Länder (federal states) have agreed on new measures to contain the pandemic while subsidy for dental prostheses will be increased. Moreover, the second instalment of the child bonus will be paid in …

More than one third (34.4 percent) of the employed among non-EU foreigners living in Germany were in so-called atypical employment in 2019, the Federal Statistical Office has reported. This means that they either worked on fixed-term contracts, less than 20 hours per week, are marginally employed or in temporary work. By contrast, only 17.9 percent of the core labour force …

The publication of the magazine is a response to the increasing numbers of Africans entering self-employment as a defensive response to difficulties in accessing jobs commensurate with their qualifications and experience. Many are also establishing businesses to respond to market opportunities.

  On Sunday 13 September, millions voters went to the polls in towns and cities across North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, to vote for Lord Mayors, Mayors, Councillors and the Integration Councils. Many candidates of African origin participated at the elections. Results are now coming in. Dr John Emeka Akude, a Nigerian-born political scientist, was elected member of the …

With a turnout of 1,500 invited guests from Europe, North America and Africa and 15,000 self-invitees from all parts of Germany, who lined the route of the couple‘s triumphant ride through the town of Trittenheim, state of Rhineland Palatinate; with dozens of press, radio and TV journalists, including some in an helicopter hovering over the idyllic town, who turned the …

At an emergency meeting with representatives of the Nigerian community in Germany, Ambassador Tuggar speaks elaborately on the difficulties encountered by Nigerians seeking to renew their passports or applying for new ones at the country's Embassy

A rally was held in memory of William Tonou-Mbobda* on 30 August in Hamburg, Germany. Organised by the Black Community’s Coalition for Justice & Self-Defence, the event was to demand for justice for the deceased Cameroonian who died following a scuffle with the security personnel of an Hamburg hospital where he was being treated. Here's the speech of Dr Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, Member of the European Parliament and Co-President of the EU Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup, that was delivered at the rally

On 13 September, elections for Lord Mayors, Mayors, Councillors and the Integration Councils will be held in towns and cities across the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Integration Councils are for many people with a migration background the only opportunity for political participation through elections. Many Africans are vying for seats on the Integration Councils (Integrationsrat), the only …

Carlo Bansah, the son of König Cephas Bansah, has assumed office as the managing director of DRK Vorderpfalz gGmbH. DRK (Deutsches Rotes Kreuz) is the synonym of the German Red Cross and Vorderpfalz is a region in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.   The IT specialist who also studied business management, aged 40, took over the management of the welfare service …

For the first time, a government financed pilot project for the reappraisal of German colonial history has been launched in Berlin

Numerous legal changes enter into force in Germany in September.  For example, the corona children’s bonus will be paid out, compulsory masks on trains will be more strictly controlled and the new training year starts while lottery players have to dig deeper into their pockets. An overview of all new legal changes in September 2020: ——- Payment of Corona children’s …

On 13 September, elections for Lord Mayors, Mayors, Councillors and the Integration Councils will be held in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. AfricanTide Union e.V. is calling on members of the African community to participate in the elections. “Your opinion counts, because it is about you, your family and our community!” the organisation said in a public message …

Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of government of the federal states (Laender) have agreed on further measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus in Germany. At the meeting held in Berlin on Thursday, the following directives were issued to people living in Germany:

Perhaps no other phrase uttered during Angela Merkel's long chancellorship has made such an impact. The words "Wir schaffen das" ("We can do it") were meant to express confidence in the face of a huge, self-imposed task. How has Germany and those who came to seek asylum in the country managed since then?

The renaming of streets in Berlin should be made easier if the name heroicises or trivialises colonial injustice. That is the objective of a draft resolution submitted by Regine Günther to the Senate of Berlin, the executive body governing the city that is also a federal state, on 18 August. According to the resolution, the Berlin street law is to …

"In addition to individual spectacular outbreaks that have become known nationwide, there are transmissions in the family and domestic environment that do not necessarily lead to many secondary cases and only show a few cases per outbreak, but apparently occur very frequently"

In what could be described as a major victory for the Black community’s long struggle for the renaming of streets bearing names derogatory or disrespectful of Africans in the federal capital, the District Assembly (Bezirksversammlung) of Berlin-Mitte has approved the name change of the Mohrenstrasse (Moor Street). On Thursday evening, the assembly decided to rename Mohrenstrasse. In the future, the …