Boss ladies and holy men: Africa's top shots

  • Published

A selection of the week's best photos from across the African continent and beyond:

The hedgehog is painted in cartoonish style with an endearing smile and a helmet on its head.Image source, KIM LUDBROOK / EPA
Image caption,

A woman walks past a mural of a huge hedgehog by artist Dekor One on Thursday in Johannesburg, South Africa.

A woman wearing an abaya and niqab walks past a bus with artwork depicting late South African President Nelson Mandela and former US President Barack Obama, whose later father was Kenyan. Image source, LUC GNAGO / REUTERS
Image caption,

Former US president and son of Kenya, Barack Obama, is painted on a matatu bus in Nairobi alongside the late Nelson Mandela on Wednesday.

A zebra's head it seen close up, with long eyelashes. Date: 31 January 2025.Image source, AMR ABDALLAH DALSH / REUTERS
Image caption,

This zebra grazes in Nairobi National Park on the outskirts of the same city days earlier.

A man weaing an eye-catching outfit made of cowries and red-and-yellow tassels stands on stilts.Image source, OUSMANE MAKAVELI / AFP
Image caption,

Saturday marks this year's Ogobagna Masked Dance in Bamako, Mali. Chronic security threats in the central region have forced the Dogon people to hold their festival in the capital city instead.

A model walks down a fashion runway wearing a huge, fluffy, lilac hat and a fuzzy red-and-white jacket. Image source, SIMON MAINA / AFP
Image caption,

On the same day thousands of miles away in East Africa, this man models tactile tailoring at Nairobi Fashion Week.

Inflatable blue snakes with friendly, cartoonish faces stand in front of a tradional-looking Chinese building.Image source, KIM LUDBROOK / EPA
Image caption,

Preparations are under way the next day for Lunar New Year celebrations in Bronkhorstspruit, South Africa...

Women dressed in red, embroidered tops and skirts stand next to large ceremonial drums.Image source, KIM LUDBROOK / EPA
Image caption,

Drumming displays and other spectacles brought in the Year of the Snake.

Undertakers line up at the edge of a dug mass grave. It is empty, ready for bodies to be laid to rest in it.Image source, MICHEL LUNANGA / AFP
Image caption,

On Tuesday, mass graves are dug for the many civilians killed in the Congolese city of Goma after Rwandan-backed M23 rebels overran the city. Horrific violence continues to play out despite the rebels' claim of a humanitarian ceasefire.

Men gather wearing the same orange gowns and matching head covering.Image source, ROBERTA CIUCCIO / AFP
Image caption,

On Saturday monks, or swamis, line up ahead of the official opening of the biggest Hindu temple in the southern hemisphere - the BAPS Hindu Mandir in Johannesburg.

Hundreds of people dressed in white take part in a religious ceremony at a premises on the beachfront.Image source, PATRICK MEINHARDT / AFP
Image caption,

Worshippers gather at Dakar's Seydina Limamou Lahi Al Mahdi Mausoleum on Friday...

A young follower looks inquisitively through an opening in the brise-soleil wall.Image source, PATRICK MEINHARDT / AFP
Image caption,

They belong to Senegal's Layene Sufi order which dates back to 1884.

From the BBC in Africa this week:

A woman looking at her mobile phone and the graphic BBC News AfricaImage source, Getty Images/BBC

Go to BBCAfrica.com, external for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, external, on Facebook at BBC Africa, external or on Instagram at bbcafrica, external

Related topics