Special

Until now, used vehicles sold in most African countries are usually from Western Europe, United States and Japan. The announcement that China had joined the trade of supplying second-car cars to the continent is causing jitters among other exporters. The news came unexpectedly two days ago. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced that it had commenced the export of used …

A business association wants to lure German start-ups with millions of euros to the African continent. They should benefit from the economic upturn there. The Germany Africa Business Forum (GABF) wants to promote German energy start-ups with several million euros. This was announced by the private association, which has its offices in Berlin and Johannesburg. GABF co-founder Sebastian Wagner said: …

How to make African women more visible as entrepreneurs and not only as employees in Germany was the theme of the 10th Economic Forum of the Pan-African Women’s Day, which took place on Friday, 26 July at the Chamber of Commerce (IHK) in Potsdam, Germany. The Day (celebrated each year on 31 August) is also a contribution to the UN …

Rwanda took a big step forward in its quest for industrialisation on Monday when the first “Made in Rwanda” Volkswagen Polo rolled off the assembly line in the Kigali Special Economic Zone. President Paul Kagame, personally graced the “historic moment” and he expressed his delight to see German vehicles produced in his country. He described the event as “a pride …

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the world’s largest funding organisation for the international exchange of students and researchers, is offering fully-funded postgraduate placements for Developing Countries. These programs are open to pursuing a postgraduate degree program at German institutions of Higher education. With its development-oriented postgraduate study programs, DAAD Development promotes the training of specialists of new industrial countries. Benefits …

The Nigerian government has agreed to a deal with the German energy company in an attempt to fix the country’s unreliable electricity grid. But will the agreement bring succour to Nigerians who have been suffering under inadequate power supply for decades? Ineke Mules of DW (Deutsche Welle) reports Nigeria has signed a six-year power deal with German energy giant Siemens, which …

Many organisations and individuals working on African issues presented their work to the public at the Fair for Bridge Builders (Messe der Brückenbauer), part of the activities celebrating the Kenako Afrika-Festival in Berlin (3-14 July). The fair is a platform for committed people from Germany and the African diaspora to exhibit their projects for the development of Africa and present …

The Federal Government has appointed Dr Sylvie Nantcha as a member of a technical commission on migration. The task of the 24-member commission is to identify “the root causes of flight and irregular migration” and it has until the end of next year to make concrete recommendations for action on how to tackle the issues. Flight and migration are among …

Self-taught coder develops model for diagnosing breast cancer; looks to solve some of the continent’s biggest challenges and inspires youth across the continent as Africa Code Week Youth Ambassador for 2019. “It takes a village to raise a child”: as the Fourth Industrial Revolution sweeps across Africa and more of its youth develop coding and other digital skills, there may …

Nigerians from across the globe will converge on their country’s capital Abuja on 24-25 July for this year’s Nigerian Diaspora Day. The annual event brings together foreign-based Nigerians and representatives of the federal and state governments to discuss areas of possible partnership in national development. The theme of this year’s Day, organised by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM) in …

Afrolynk, an impact venture that supports and connects innovators, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders in the EU-African market, have partnered with Dr. Akuma Saningong, a master communicator, in unlocking the potential of African business ventures. Afrolynk will hold a Community Meet-Up on 10 July in Hamburg and it’s inviting attendees from Hamburg’s business sector, including start-ups, NGOs and public and private …

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has adopted a single currency, named eco, to be launched by 2020. It’s one of the decisions of the 55th ordinary session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the group held on Saturday, 29 June in Abuja, Nigeria, in the presence of 13 of the 15 heads of …

Germany is called the land of ideas in academic circles and for good reasons. There are 427 state-accredited institutions of higher education – universities and polytechnics – in Germany. Together, they offer a total of over 18,000 degree programmes. In this piece Chijioke Kizito Onah, a postgraduate student of the University of Frankfurt and DAAD scholarship recipient, discusses strategies foreign …

German software company SAP and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) plan to jointly create 450 jobs for highly qualified personnel in the IT sector in ten African countries. The collaboration, which was presented in Berlin today by German Development Minister Gerd Müller and by Michael Kleinemeier, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE and …

US-Africa Business Summit successfully advances trade, investment and commercial partnership between the US and Africa Heads of State, Vice Presidents, and Prime Ministers from nine African nations attended the Corporate Council on Africa’s 12th US-Africa Business Summit in Maputo, Mozambique on June 18-21. They were joined by Ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs, Commerce, Economy, Public Works, and ICT from more …

Rwanda has opened its first gold refinery to process gold from all over Africa and to discourage the export of the minerals from the continent. The new refinery, built at a cost of $5 million by Aldango Company is located at the Kigali Special Economic Zone in Gasabo District. Aldango which was previously running as a business dealing in gold …

As a global trade war rages, Africa fears contagion from lower commodity prices, according to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) latest report, Economic Insight: Africa Q2 2019. The accountancy body provides GDP growth forecasts for various regions including East Africa, which is the region in Africa that was estimated to have experienced the most rapid …

The historic African Continental Free Trade Area agreement went into force on 30 May 2019. Creating the regionally integrated Africa of our dreams, will require political will, policy changes, and private and public sector partnerships, argues Dr Victor Oladokun, Director of Communication, African Development Bank. In 2018, the fictional country of Wakanda in the blockbuster movie Black Panther, was ranked …

How to make African-owned businesses in Germany more resilient and less prone to failure was the theme of one of the workshops held as part of the Africa Day programme in Dortmund on 24-25 May. The event, organised by AfricanTide Union, commemorates the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (now African Union) on 25 May 1963. Clément Klutse, a …

The Migration Enlightenment Project Nigeria (MEPN), a Germany-based initiative promoting safe migration, has noted that criminal human trafficking networks continued to be the main driver of irregular emigration in Nigeria. In view of the thousands of Nigerians stranded in various transit and destination countries around the world where they’re exposed to human rights abuses, the MEPN has issued a brief …