Congo-Brazzaville bans full-face Islamic veil
Burundi president warns of 'severe sanctions' on protesters
Burundi students spend the night at US embassy for their safety
Ladysmith and Salif Keita release anti-xenophobia song
We're back on Monday.
To ease you into the weekend, we leave you with this photo of an endangered South African penguin, preparing for its release back into the wild. See here for the full Africa in Pictures collection for this week.
Image source, EPABBC Somali's Ahmed Said has sent these photos of refugees who have fled the conflict in Yemen arriving this evening in the port city of Berbera in Somaliland.
Our reporter says that there were 220 people on board, and that passengers had told him the boat was overcrowded and nearly capsized at one point during the journey because of the high waves.
Most of those on board were women and children from Somalia, though there were also some Yemenis, and five Ethiopians, he adds. Medics have been treating some of the passengers, who are exhausted after the two-day journey across the Gulf of Aden.
Many of those on the boat had previously fled the long conflict in Somalia. Many will now travel to the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
The US envoy Tom Malinowski who was in Burundi for talks with President Pierre Nkurunziza over the controversy of his third-term bid has tweeted, external this comment: "Left #Burundi this AM. Hoping for dialogue among reasonable ppl on all sides. Peaceful debate & dissent is not insurrection."
He also posted a photo of him talking to students outside the US embassy. Hundreds stayed outside the embassy overnight, saying it was the safest place for them to be.
Image source, Tom MalinowskiThe head of the East African Community (EAC) has said that the people of Burundi must decide who is and who is not eligible to run in June's presidential election.
EAC Secretary General Richard Sezibera told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme that the organisation is ready to play its part in helping Burundi.
But he emphasised that the controversy over President Pierre Nkunriziza's third-term bid should be sorted out by Burundians.
Mayweather v Pacquiao isn't the only big fight happening on Saturday. Zambia's Catherine Phiri is set to take on Ireland's Christina McMahon tomorrow in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, for the WBC bantamweight gold title. The BBC's Meluse Kapatamoyo took this photo of the two fighters at the weigh-in.
The Seychelles is trying to move away from a dependence on tourism and grow other industries like fishing.
The country is home to the largest tuna canning factory in the world, which aims to process 90,000 tonnes of tuna fish a year.
Watch BBC's Africa Business Report for more.
Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza has warned of "severe sanctions" against protesters who are found to be behind an "insurrectional movement".
In a Labour Day radio broadcast President Nkurunziza said there would be a judicial inquiry into the protests.
The past week has seen demonstrations against the president's bid to run for a third term.
Image source, AFPThere have been six days of demonstrations in the capital, Bujumbura
Chris Ewokor
BBC Africa, Abuja, Nigeria
Nigeria's military is handing over the 293 women and children it says it rescued from the militant group Boko Haram to the country's relief agency.
The agency says they will undergo medical checks and get counselling to help them overcome their trauma, before being reunited with their families.
The military says they were rescued earlier this week during an offensive on Boko Haram strongholds in Sambisa forest in the north-east.
Image source, Nigerian armyThe Nigerian army released this photo of some of the captives
Ghanaians have been taking part in the traditional May Day rally in Black Star Square in the capital, Accra. It's seen as an opportunity for workers to vent their feelings, reports the BBC's Sammy Darko.
Workers have been complaining about the irregular power supply, or "dumsor" as it's known.
They also called for an end to corruption.
President John Mahama addressed the crowd saying that he shared their pain over the ongoing difficulties.
As the tension mounts ahead of what's being described as the "fight of the century" between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao on Saturday in Las Vegas, the BBC's Farayi Mungazi has asked his followers on Twitter, external for an African proverb which best sums up the showdown.
Michael O'Driscoll tweets, external: "When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you!"
Stephen Kwesi Assan in Ghana tweets, external: "When two elephants fight, it is the ground that suffers."
Image source, ReutersFloyd Mayweather (l) and Manny Pacquiao (r) will divide an estimated $230mn purse for the fight
Tweet us your suggestions on #BBCAfrica, external
Alex Duval Smith
Bamako, Mali
Bamako wood sculptor Mamadou Souaray is carving a giraffe today. It's Labour Day here in Mali and though he's happy for people to have the day off, Mr Souaray says he never stops working.
On Wednesday, Mali's cabinet voted to increase the legal monthly minimum wage from $70 (£46) to $80 (£53) from January next year.
''The increase is meaningless. Who can live on that?" he asks. "We all know that the real money goes to the people high-up, not the people at the bottom like me."
In Nigeria, more than 50 hunters gathered for their annual hunting activities have been killed in an attack in the country's north-west. A police spokesman said the attack took place in the Sammaje forest in Kaduna state. The identity of the attackers is not yet known.
Here's a couple of shots from our selection of the best photos in Africa this week. For the full gallery, see here:
Image source, AFPSudan's Habab Hussein takes part in the World Table Tennis Championships in the Chinese city of Suzhou on Monday.
Image source, EPAAn endangered penguin prepares for its release into the wild near Cape Town in South Africa. A local conservation project cares for birds at risk from urbanisation and rehabilitates them for release elsewhere.
Some 400 people are being detained in Burundi as part of the effort to stop the protests against President Pierre Nkurunziza's third-term bid, according to a researcher for Human Rights Watch, AP news agency reports.
Carina Tertsakian told AP that the number being held "is escalating all the time".
Students from the University of Burundi, which was shut by the government citing "insecurity", have spent the night in front of the US embassy saying they were not safe in the city.
Karen Allen
BBC News, Garissa, Kenya
Kenya's security services are facing serious allegations of taking the law into their own hands and bypassing the courts in the search for al-Shabab fighters.
Here in Garisssa, I have spoken to one man, who alleges his brother was abducted by plain clothes policemen three weeks ago and has not been seen since. There are other similar allegations.
It is nearly a month since an attack by the al-Qaeda-linked group al-Shabab killed 148 people at the Garissa University College.
Image source, AFPThe victims of the Garissa attack were widely mourned in Kenya
Ghana's President John Mahama has told workers at a May Day rally that he shares people's pain over ongoing difficulties in the country, including widespread blackouts. He has also tweeted, external that the electricity shortage will be over soon.
Image source, TwitterThe tweet has already got a lot of sceptical responses with some people sarcastically referring to the president as Mr Promise.
Authorities in Congo-Brazzaville have banned people from wearing the full-face Islamic veil, including the niqab and the burka, in public places. They've also forbidden Muslims from other countries spending nights in mosques, saying the measures are designed to counter extremism.
Thousands of people, mostly Muslims, have fled violence in the neighbouring Central African Republic and have been taking shelter in mosques.
A plea from John Dumelo, one of Ghana's biggest actors, for patience with the government over the on-going power cuts has led to a big Twitter backlash led by another famous star.
Mr Dumelo said that the president should be given more time to sort things out, adding that "Rome wasn't built in a day".
Actress Yvonne Nelson responded on Twitter, external: "Ghanaians wake up! We seriously don't deserve this!". And she posted a series of other tweets.
Image source, TwitterThe actress got hundreds of tweets in response backing her criticism, and it has sparked a new debate about the power shortage in Ghana, reports the BBC's Sammy Darko in Ghana.
Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced plans for a 12% increase in the minimum wage for workers during his Labour Day speech in Nairobi.
Kenya's Central Organisation of Trade Unions had been asking for an increase of 20%.
Image source, Kenya Presidency
Brian Hungwe
BBC Africa, Harare
Zimbabwe's main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has arrived at the May Day rally in the capital, Harare.
The biggest concern for workers here today is the announced closure of Telecel, the country's third biggest mobile phone company.
The government says it is closing the network over a failure to comply with licensing and other regulations. The union says 1000 workers could lose their jobs.
