News

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Mr Mohammed Babandede, announced this week that from 1 January 2018, anybody without a National Identification Number issued by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) will not be able to procure Nigerian passport. The condition applies to both first-time applicants and those renewing their expired passport, according to Babandede, who spoke in …

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has won a third term in office, garnering a whopping 98 per cent of votes counted, according to partial results released today. There had been little doubt that the 59-year-old would return to the helm of the east African nation which he has ruled with an iron fist since the end of the 1994 genocide. With …

Because they couldn’t sit at home doing nothing, 15-year-old Precious and Promise Idiaru took to sports many years ago. They started with football and later switched to basketball, in which the tall brothers have proved to be very good. They have now been nominated for Germany’s Under-15 national team which will take part in the 4-nation North Sea Development Cup …

Kenyans, Rwandans, and Angolans go to the polls in August to vote for president and members of parliament. The elections in Rwanda and Angola do not promise any surprises as the ruling parties in both countries are well entrenched in power. Kenya however is another matter. ———————— Kagame to continue The 4 August presidential election in Rwanda is seen as …

The population of people of African origin in Germany has nearly doubled in only five years, according to new figures published on Tuesday by the Federal Statistics Office. Moreover, the number of people with an immigrant background in the country reached a new high of 18.6 million in 2016, an increase of 8.5 per cent compared to the previous year. …

Exactly a week before Kenya goes to the polls to elect a new president, the official in charge of electronic voting was found dead on Monday after being missing for three days. The body of Chris Msando, who was the head of information, communication and technology at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), was found in a bush by …

Two leading European countries are planning drastic measures to deal with migration from Africa through the Mediterranean. France says it wants to establish camps to vet migrants in Libya, Chad and Niger as Italy plans to deploy war ships to the Libyan coast to stop refugees and send them back. Italy’s cabinet on Friday (28 July) backed a plan by …

Google has officially launched its Street View of Nigeria’s commercial hub, Lagos, and the tech giant is looking to make the feature available across the country soon. The company launched the new service at the Google for Nigeria event which took place in Lagos last Thursday (27 July) in the presence of its CEO, Sundar Pichai. Street view is a …

A battery of new technological innovations has been unveiled by Germany’s refugee agency to help it determine more accurately the country of origin of asylum seekers and detect those who make multiple applications using different names. Jefferson Chase reports. No more Franco A.’s – that’s the motto at the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge …

“My message to the Gambians in the Diaspora is that we want them to come back home and contribute to nation building,” appeals President Adama Barrow as he hints of a possible trial of former leader Yahya Jammeh, currently in exile in Equatorial Guinea. In an exclusive interview with Omar Wally of Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany’s public international broadcaster, Barrow …

The Kenyan Diaspora and well-wishers of the East African country will gather in six German cities on Saturday, 5 August for Amani Kenya-Open Air Prayers for Peace and Unity.  According to the organizers, the event, which will hold in Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Munich and Wurzburg, is to show solidarity with their compatriots at home who will go the polls …

Two German army pilots have died after their helicopter crashed near Gao, eastern Mali. At the time of the crash, the helicopter was monitoring “confrontations.” The Tiger type army combat helicopter with two pilots onboard crashed for unknown reasons around 12:20 GMT/UTC about 70 kilometers (43 miles) northeast of Gao in eastern Mali, the Bundeswehr said on Wednesday. “Onboard the …

Nigeria is currently in a state of intense political agitation. An Igbo self-determination group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is calling for a separate national state for the Igbo people of the country while other groups are advocating for a wide-ranging constitutional reform to devolve more powers to the federating states. Foreign governments are intervening in the debate. The …

Operation Sophia, the European Union migrant-rescue mission in the Mediterranean Sea, has been extended and will now run until 31 December 2018. EU leaders reached the agreement in Brussels on Tuesday (25 July) after Italy withdrew its veto. The extension was expected to be agreed upon last Monday but Italy, discontent with other EU member states’ efforts on the migrant …

Kenyans of Asian heritage have been granted official recognition as the 44th ethnic group in the country. The Kenyan government granted the status last week after years of petitioning by the Kenyan Asian community made up of about 46,782 people, according to the 2009 census figures. “All persons, bodies and authorities within the Republic of Kenya shall recognize the community …

The Nigerian Diaspora Day kicked off in Abuja today. The annual event brings together Nigerians resident abroad and representatives of the federal government and its agencies to discuss areas of partnership in national development. Addressing a press conference in Abuja on the eve of the Diaspora Day, leaders of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organization, NIDO, said that the issue corruption …

After more than a decade of advocacy, the Nigerian Diaspora Commission became a reality recently when Acting President Yemi Osinbajo assented to the Bill establishing the body. An active participant in the process that led to the realization of the Commission is Collins Nweke*, Belgium-based media and development consultant and an elected communal politician who served in various leadership positions …

The emergence of terror groups with global reach following the wars in the Middle East has shown that events in the explosive region have potentially devastating impact worldwide. In this by-lined article for Project Syndicate, Joschka Fischer, former German Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor, sounds a note of warning to the international community that the imminent defeat of the so-called …

Senegalese singer, songwriter and businessman Akon has called on African youth to play an active role in rebuilding the continent and not depend on governments. The American-born music star was addressing over 2,800 youth from all over Africa on Friday (21 July) in Rwanda’s capital Kigali during the final day of the maiden YouthConnekt Africa Summit organised to shape the …

Louise Hunt, freelance journalist specialising in social affairs and international development, writes on the situation of Gambian migrants in Europe whose case for asylum has been weakened by the overthrow of their country’s long-reigning autocratic leader. The Gambia’s leader of 22 years, Yahya Jammeh, used to give Gambians good cause for claiming asylum, even if the majority were fleeing poverty …