Find your community

Where Nigerians in Berlin get free advice in English, meet people, find African and Black community spaces, news, German classes, English-German schools and doctors.

On 30 June 2026, 6,327 Nigerian nationals were registered in Berlin (Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg, Statistischer Bericht A I 5 hj 1/26, Table 10). The report does not list Nigeria separately in its table on people with a migration background, and gives no figures by district for Nigerian nationals, so no further number is stated here. Most Nigerians in Berlin speak English, and many speak Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa or Pidgin. This page lists free or non-profit places, with an English-speaking or Pan-African/Black community focus. Links checked on 5 November 2026; opening hours change, so check the site before you go.

Free advice in English

• Willkommenszentrum Berlin (Potsdamer Straße 61): the Senate's free advice centre for new arrivals on residence, work and education, housing, family, health and money. Advice is "multilingual"; the site is in English, but the advice languages are not listed, so ask when you book.
• Joliba e.V.: intercultural network for African, Afro-German and migrant families. Its Beratungscenter (Görlitzer Straße 70, Kreuzberg; tel. 030 610 768 02) helps with housing and job searches, residence status, dealing with authorities and official letters, in several languages. Mon, Wed, Thu 11-14, Tue 11-16, by phone appointment.
• Each One Teach One (EOTO) e.V. (Togostraße 76, Wedding; tel. 030 513 041 63): free sociocultural counselling Tue and Fri 14-18, and anti-discrimination counselling.
• Antidiskriminierungsnetzwerk Berlin (TBB): advice if you faced racist or other discrimination at work, housing or from authorities. The site has an English version. The counselling languages and address were not confirmed; see the Kontakt page.
• BEMA - Beratungszentrum für Migration und Gute Arbeit: labour-law advice on contracts, pay and dismissal for migrant workers; the site is available in English. Counselling languages and address not confirmed; see the Kontakt page. See also Skilled worker.
• Integrationslots:innen: multilingual guides (more than 200, over 40 languages) who explain offices and services in every district. Ask the provider in your district whether an English-speaking guide is free.
• Embassy of Nigeria (Neue Jakobstraße 4, Mitte): passports and other consular matters only, not German law. Passport appointments are booked free on the Nigeria Immigration Service site; the embassy states that paying for an appointment is fraud. Services carry a EUR 30 administrative charge on top of statutory fees, and cash is not accepted.

Meeting people: Black and African community spaces, faith

• Black Communities Center, Wedding: opened in May 2026 by Senator Cansel Kiziltepe (berlin.de), sponsored by EOTO e.V.; planned are a library, community groups, counselling and events. Address and opening hours not stated in the article.
• EOTO library (Togostraße 76): Afro-diasporic literature and a history archive; open Tue and Thu 14-18. Black Youth Fridayz on the last Friday of each month.
• AfroPolitan Berlin (Möckernstraße 72, Kreuzberg; [email protected]): workshops, discussion groups and community events for Black and Afrodiasporic people, partly publicly funded. Some workshops charge a fee; check each event.
• Joliba also runs free activities: a Friendship Choir, an open weekly sewing workshop (Nähwerkstatt) and a lunch and network meeting.
• Afrika Yetu e.V. (Berlin Global Village, Am Sudhaus 2, Neukölln): Kizomba, salsa and samba classes; salsa on Wednesdays, Kizomba on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
• St. George's Anglican Church (Preussenallee 17-19, Charlottenburg): English-language services in an international congregation that includes members from African countries.
• English-language Catholic Mass: not verified: a listing names St. Bernhard (Dahlem), St. Thomas von Aquin (Mitte) and St. Matthias (Schöneberg); the parish site was not reachable, so check times with the parish.
• Online: search Meetup and Facebook for Nigerian, African or language-exchange groups, and nebenan.de for your neighbourhood. Treat advice in groups as tips, not facts.

Festivals and events

• Karneval der Kulturen: street festival in Kreuzberg, free; expected 14 to 17 May 2027 (Pentecost). Official dates not yet published.
• AFROLUTION: literature festival run by EOTO each June (eoto-archiv.de). 2027 dates not yet published.

Sport and leisure

• Motherland Berlin Sports Club e.V.: African-founded football club in the Berlin league. Not verified: the club's website could not be reached; find it through the Berliner Fussball-Verband club search.
• Join any local Berlin sports club (Verein) for football, athletics or basketball; ask in your Kiez or search Meetup.

Students and professionals

The Studierendenwerk Berlin offers international student counselling (application deadlines, German courses, residence), a Buddy Programme, Welcome Day events and a SprachCafé. Fees and counselling languages not confirmed. See Study. For professionals, ask your employer or union about networks; see Recognition.

News and media

• The African Courier (Flankenschanze 4, 13585 Berlin; [email protected]): independent English-language magazine on Africa and the African diaspora, with regular coverage of Nigerian community events, migration and life in Germany. Read it as journalism; it is not legal advice.

Job search

See Skilled worker, Opportunity Card, Nursing and health, Ausbildung, Freelance and self-employed and Recognition. Never pay for a job offer: Avoiding scams.

German, tandems, volunteering

• Berlin Volkshochschulen: German and integration courses in every district. You need a consultation (Beratungsgespräch) first; bring your passport or ID and, if you have it, your Zulassung zum Integrationskurs. The page is in English. More: Learn German.
• Language exchange (tandem): search Meetup for "language exchange Berlin"; many groups are free.

Children: heritage language and bilingual schools

• Erstsprachenunterricht (free, run via schools; Senate page): the languages listed are Arabic, Kurdish, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa are not offered, and English is taught only as a foreign language from grade 3.
• Staatliche Europa-Schule Berlin (SESB): free bilingual German-English teaching from grade 1, open to all children; a lottery decides if demand exceeds places. English-German sites include Charles-Dickens-Grundschule, Quentin-Blake-Grundschule, Galilei-Grundschule, Peter-Ustinov-Schule, Schiller-Gymnasium and Dreilinden-Gymnasium. Registration details: Senate education department, tel. 030 90227 5050.
• Ludothek global (Berlin Global Village, Am Sudhaus 2, Neukölln): free toy library for children 0-10; Tue 10-13, Wed and Fri 15-18, no registration.
• Joliba offers family support for African and Afro-German families (see above).

Doctors who speak your language

Use the KV Berlin Arztsuche; entries can show the languages a practice offers. Urgent appointments through the statutory health insurance: tel. 116117. See Social security and health.