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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 …

“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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

Adeoye Omolewa has been elected into the US House of Representative. The Democratic candidate defeated its Republican rival on Tuesday to gain a ‘shadow’ (non-voting) seat in the House to represent the District of Columbia (also known as DC or Washington) which is the capital city of the United States of America. Owolewa garnered a whopping 164,026 votes, representing 82.84 …

Nigeria could learn from the United States electoral process to build on democratic gains in the country, the African Diaspora Congress (ADC) said on Wednesday Prof. Apollos Nwauwa, the Secretary-General and Public Relations Officer of the US-based organisation, made the comment in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). According to Nwauwa, the outcome of the current …

Nigerians from all parts of Europe, joined by guests from across the globe, will gather on 11-14 November for the annual general meeting of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe (NIDOE). The event, which holds both physically and virtually, is being hosted in Dortmund, Germany, by the German chapter of the organisation, NIDO Germany. Eminent Nigerian leaders, including former Presidents …

Six percent of young Africans polled across the entire Survey believe that US President Donald Trump in particular is the single-most important individual that has had the greatest impact on the continent over the past five years, and, should he be elected to a second term of Office,..

Press Statement by Dr. Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, Member of the European Parliament, on the first European Gender Equality Week, which was marked on 26-29 October 2020: —— On the initiative of the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM), the European Parliament marked its first “European Gender Equality Week” from 26 to 29 October 2020 – 25 years after the …

According to Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD), the Federal Government wants to have the controversial term “race” quickly deleted from the Basic Law, the country’s constitution. “There is complete agreement that there are no different races of people,” the politician told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper. “That is why we in the Federal Government have agreed to revise the Basic Law at …

Tanzania’s President John Magufuli has won the presidential election, the National Electoral Commission announced on Friday, giving him a second five-year term. Magufuli of the long ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) received 12.5 million votes in Wednesday’s election – or 85 percent – while his main challenger, Tundu Lissu of the Chadema party, got 1.9 million votes, or 13 percent, …

On 22 October 2020, in the aftermath of the Nigerian Army shooting and killing of peaceful youths protesting at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria, the leadership and members of Nigerians In Diaspora Organization World Wide (NIDOWW) invited other Nigerian Diaspora organizations to an emergency town hall meeting to discuss and take a stance on …

Tanzanians headed to the polls on Wednesday for presidential and parliamentary elections. More than 29 million people are registered to vote out of 58 million citizens. They will choose from 15 presidential candidates and elect lawmakers for 264 parliamentary seats. President John Magufuli is seeking another five-year term on the platform of the ruling party CCM, which has governed the …