The German parliament has voted to allow the use of the drug for medical purposes. The issue had been a point of heated discussion in the country for a long time. Members of Germany’s parliament Bundestag voted unanimously on Thursday 19 January to legalize the use of medical marijuana. Seriously ill patients will qualify for medical marijuana if they have …

With the swearing in of President Adama Barrow yesterday in Dakar, Senegal, The Gambia now has an internationally recognized leader. Analysts say the event signalled the end of the presidency of Yahya Jammeh. He is now effectively a rebel leader and all efforts are being made to persuade him to vacate the State House in Banjul and leave the country. …

British tour operator Thomas Cook started evacuating nearly 1,000 holidaymakers from Gambia on Wednesday (18 January) after President Yahya Jammeh declared a state of emergency on his final day in office, increasing the chances of civil unrest. In a statement on its website, Thomas Cook said it had activated its contingency plans and was laying on extra flights in the …

President-elect Adama Barrow has announced that he would be sworn in today at the Embassy of The Gambia in Dakar, Senegal’s capital.  The constitutional term of office of former President Yahya Jammeh elapsed at midnight yesterday (18 January). “I would like to inform you that the Inauguration Ceremony is going to take place at the Gambian Embassy in Dakar, Senegal,” …

German Development Minister Gerd Müller has presented his long-awaited new Africa strategy. He’s proposing a new level of development cooperation, as Daniel Pelz reports from Berlin. Fighting poverty in Africa is not just a moral obligation, but also in the self-interest of wealthy countries like Germany, German Development Minister Gerd Müller said as he presented his long-awaited “Marshall Plan” for Africa in …

Any hopes that the lingering Gambian election crisis could peacefully be resolved have now vanished as President Yahya Jammeh yesterday [17 January]  declared a 90-day state of emergency. In a TV address to the nation, the embattled leader whose term of office expires at midnight on Wednesday, 18 January said the measure was necessary to avoid a power vacuum, insisting …

17 January 2017, Davos-Klosters, Switzerland – Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a robust defence of globalization to business, government and civil society leaders in the opening plenary session of the 47th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. China, Xi said, is committed to fulfilling its international responsibilities and contributing to addressing pressing global challenges, including climate change, the need for new …

I am a 31-year-old Kenyan. I left my home country more than twelve years ago, six months after I completed my secondary education. My initial reason for coming to Germany was my interest in the German language. Since I had already learnt it for four years in my secondary school, I wanted to further my skills before I embarked on …

Germany plans to step up its engagement within the framework of the MINUSMA peacekeeping mission, with deployment, not earlier than March 2017, of combat and transport helicopters and up to 350 additional soldiers. The new mandate was adopted by the cabinet on 11 January  and still needs to be approved by the German Bundestag. In 2012, Islamist groups managed to …

The 2nd German-African Business Summit (GABS) will take place in Nairobi, Kenya from 8 to 10 February 2017. The first edition of the event, which took place in Berlin in September 2015, provided a forum for some 400 participants from the worlds of business and politics, from Germany and Africa, to discuss Africa’s prospects and potential and to make new contacts. …