The news headlines on the recent municipal elections in South Africa have one thing in common: that the governing African National Congress (ANC) lost and hence is losing its dominance of the country’s political landscape. The 2016 municipal elections elected the members of the district, metropolitan and local municipal councils in all 9 provinces, who, in turn, will elect the …

The South Sudanese government has decided to deploy a regional force to protect civilians. The decision comes a month after fighting broke out between rival army factions and the release of a critical UN report. Mahboub Maalim, head of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development in East Africa (IGAD), said on Friday (5 August) that the government had accepted a protection …

Maisha e.V. hosted the International Conference on Political Participation of Migrant Women in Frankfurt recently. The event, featuring podium discussions and workshops, explored how women of African descent, migrant women in Germany and even refugees could better be involved in the political process to champion their interests. The conference was organised in collaboration with ASA, a programme of Engagement Global …

The International Decade for People of African Descent, 2015–2024, was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly and adopted on 23 December 2013. The theme of the Decade is “People of African descent: recognition, justice and development”. The Decade highlights the human rights situation of the African diaspora worldwide and aims to fight racial discrimination and create visibility for the contribution …

Chancellor Angela Merkel has condemned the attacks in Wurzburg and Ansbach as “Islamic terror” but assured that the country will continue to offer refuge to those fleeing war and political persecution. The attacks were shocking, distressing and depressing, the Chancellor said at a press conference in Berlin today (28 July). “Taboos of civilisation are being broken,” she said, referring to …

Ghanaian-born driving instructor Victor Boadum is a real rarity in the streets of Berlin. He teaches Africans to survive the German capital’s rough traffic. DW’s Daniel Pelz went along on a driving lesson. Getting the car out of the narrow parking space and onto the road into Berlin’s heavy midmorning traffic comes close to a little adventure. Driving student Sharon …

The University of Frankfurt’s web-based library on sub-Saharan Africa ilissAfrica (www.ilissafrica.de) offers useful material on African history and culture, with special emphasis on the German colonial history in Africa. In an exclusive interview with our correspondent Muhammed Faisal Garba, the librarian of ilissAfrica, Nadia Cohen, talks about the objectives of the library and how scholars on Africa can profit from …

Ghana has begun to offer visas on arrival to citizens of all 54 African Union member states. Ghana is now the third country in the continent after Mauritius and Rwanda to allow visas on arrival for all Africans. Ghana’s new visa policy is big news in Africa because travelling in the continent is not easy for Africans. “Nationals from African …

General elections will be held in Ghana on 7 December 2016 to elect a President and Members of Parliament. They had originally been scheduled for 7 November 2016, but the date was later rejected by Parliament. “Despite the demonstration of our preparedness to deliver a credible and world-class elections on the proposed November 7 date, parliament in its wisdom has …

Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe (NIDOE) held a two-day event in Vienna in July to promote the Nigeria tourism sector. The event was declared open by the Chargé d’Affaires of the Nigerian Embassy in Austria, Gazing Dangtim, after a welcome address by the NIDOE Austria chair, Oluyemi Ogundele, who said: “Nigeria could generate foreign exchange, provide employment and accelerate rural …