That's all for today from the BBC Africa Live page. Listen to the Africa Today podcast and keep up-to-date with developments across the continent on the BBC News website.

Today’s African proverb: "Alone a youth runs fast, with an elder he travels slowly but together they go far." A Luo‬, external proverb from Kenya sent by Edward in Kano, Nigeria.

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

We leave you with this photo sent by our colleague Clare Spencer from Tanzania's Mwanza city, where she is on a holiday:

Twenty of the 30 candidates who contested presidential elections aimed at ending conflict in Central African Republic have called for the counting of votes to be halted, alleging "massive fraud". 

The candidates said in a joint statement that they refuse to be "accomplices of the electoral masquerade", and demanded a re-run of the 30 December poll. 

However, the three main candidates are not among the signatories of the statement.

Image source, AFP

After about a quarter of votes were counted, former Prime Minister Faustin Touadera had a surprise lead. 

He had 23% of the vote with his nearest rival, Anicet Georges Dologuele, another former prime minister, on around 13%, according to electoral officials quoted by the AFP news agency.

Desire Kolingba, son of a former president, is in third place.

Derby County have signed Guinea international Abdoul Camara from French Ligue 1 side Angers for a fee believed to be $1.84m (£1.25m).

The 25-year-old can play on the left wing or up front and has agreed a three-and-a-half-year contract. 

Camara told told BBC Radio Derby: "I am happy to be here. Playing in England is my dream. I am ready to be here.

Image source, Getty Images

Three people have been injured in three explosions in Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, police say.

The blasts - thought to be mortar shells - were near the mayor's office in the central business district. 

Burundi has been blighted by unrest since an attempted coup in May and protests over President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision to seek a third term in office. 

Over the weekend a musician, Pascal Tresor Nshimirimana, who had been critical of the president, was found dead (see 09:40 post).

A Sudanese man accused of walking almost the entire length of the undersea Channel Tunnel from France to the UK has been granted asylum, his legal representative has said, AFP news agency reports. 

Abdul Rahman Haroun, 40, was arrested in Kent in south-east England in August on suspicion of passing through the tunnel, which stretches for about 50 kilometres (31 mile). 

Shortly after his arrest, Mr Haroun applied for asylum in the UK. It was granted on 24 December, although he only got the news during a court appearance today, AFP reports.

"I can confirm, as was stated in open court today, that Mr Haroun has been granted asylum," Sadie Castle of law firm Kent Defence is quoted as saying. 

Image source, AFP

Mr Haroun was charged under an 1861 law on malicious damage with causing an obstruction to an engine or carriage using the railway, but the case has now been adjourned for two weeks so prosecutors can decide whether to proceed with it, Ms Castle added. 

Judge Adele Williams ordered that he be freed on condition that he reports at his local police station once a week, and he is due back in court on 18 January, AFP reports.       

He pleaded not guilty to the charges at an earlier hearing.

Image source, AFP

Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam says maintaining discipline will be key as he returns to coach Egyptian champions Zamalek for a second time.

He replaces Brazilian coach Marcos Paqueta, who was sacked on Sunday.

Mido will be working alongside Hazem Emam, who has been appointed as the club's football director.

"We'll work towards the future, to rebuild the team, maintain discipline and set a new clear working system," Mido told Egypt's Al Ahram newspaper.

Emam is also a former Zamalek player and while they did not play together at club level, they played alongside each other for Egypt at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations.

Read the full BBC sport story here

Image source, All Sport/Getty Images

In cricket, Hashim Amla's unbeaten 157 helped South Africa frustrate England as the tourists took only one wicket on day three of the second Test in Cape Town.

The South Africa captain reached his 24th Test century off 214 balls after he was dropped by James Anderson on 76.

Resuming on 141-2, Amla added another 127 runs with AB de Villiers who was removed by Steven Finn for 88.

Yet Amla proved immovable as Faf du Plessis hit 51 not out, guiding the Proteas to 353-3, trailing by 276 runs.

South Africa require another 72 runs to avoid the follow-on.

Read the full BBC story here.

Ebola and Obamacare were just two of the major global health stories that dominated the headlines in 2015.

Our Global Health correspondent Tulip Mazumdar takes a look at what could lie ahead in 2016.

Watch her report here

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, LoveRealm

A Ghanaian Christian group is to launch a "holy" social network alternative to Facebook which will be free of "un-Christian" content. 

"Social networks these days are filled with nude content and violence," the group LoveRealm said in a statement. 

"The site will be launched on 9 January and will ensure a holy social network experience by censoring and removing "un-Christian content," its CEO Yaw Ansong Jnr said.

Hundreds of Christians are being invited to use the app in a pre-launch event at the Pentecost Convention Center in the capital, Accra, to enable them make inputs and accommodate necessary modifications, the statement added.

Founders of the site hope that it will allow those struggling to keep the Christian faith to share weaknesses and confess their sins to one another.

South Africa's Standard Bank says it has suspended a leading economist who has become embroiled in a racism row on Twitter. 

Chris Hart's comments on Twitter were "factually incorrect, make inappropriate assumptions about South Africa and have racist undertones", Standard Bank says in a statement, external.

"Accordingly Standard Bank Group will be initiating the appropriate internal disciplinary processes to ensure that these types of personal comments are not associated with Standard Bank Group in the future," the statement adds.

Earlier, Mr Hart tweeted:

Mr Hart is the second person to be punished during a row about racism which is gripping South Africa.

Earlier, the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) said it planned to suspend the membership of an estate agent after she put up a Facebook post referring to black people on beaches in the eastern city of Durban as "monkeys". 

She deleted the post, and apologised. 

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari will hold talks on Tuesday with the head of International Monetary Fund (IMF) as he seeks to revive Africa's largest economy, which has been battered by plunging oil prices.

"I look forward to productive meetings ... as they address important economic challenges, most importantly the impact of low oil prices," IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said in a statement., external

Ms Lagarde will also meet Nigeria's Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun.

The statement gave no other details, but the meeting suggests an acknowledgement of Mr Buhari's efforts to revive the economy of Africa's leading oil producer. 

Mr Buhari was elected in March partly on a promise to tackle corruption that has left many Nigerians in abject poverty despite the country's enormous energy wealth.

Nigeria announced a record budget of $31bn (£20.8bn) for 2016, raising spending by 20% and a tripling of capital expenditure intended to help the country adjust to the falling oil price. 

IMF has tweeted a picture of Ms Lagarde's arrival in the capital, Abuja:

The leading Shia Muslim group in Nigeria has condemned the execution of a Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia on Saturday after he was convicted of terror-related offences.

Nimr had eschewed "all violent opposition", and his execution did not bode well for peace and development, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) said in a statement. 

Saudi Arabia and other "undemocratic, despotic regimes across the globe should know that the truth can not be silenced by state-sponsored terrorism", it added. 

Image source, Reuters

Angola’s currency has fallen to its lowest level since September 2001 after the country's central bank allowed it to devalue in response to the sharp drop in oil prices, Bloomberg news agency reports, external. 

The kwanza slid 15% to trade at 158.7370 against the US dollar.

Angola's central bank is trying to reduce the gap between the kwanza’s official rate and that on the black market.

The unofficial value of the currency has fallen to between 270 and 280 kwanza to the dollar, mainly due to the collapse in the price of oil, which is Angola's main export.

Guinea is free to host international football matches for the first time in 17 months after being declared free of the Ebola virus.

On Monday, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) lifted a ban that was imposed in August 2014.

"Caf has learned with joy and relief the announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 29 December, officially confirming that Guinea is now declared Ebola free," the African body said in a letter to the Guinean football federation.

"Caf thereby confirms lifting the ban on the organization of continental matches in Guinea, and for all competitions organized by Caf."

It means Guinea will be able to play Malawi in Conakry in March as part of the qualifiers for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations.

Read more on BBC sport story here

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, AFP

Benin business tycoon Sebastien Ajavon has announced that he will contest next month's presidential election, in a move that will pit two of the West African state's most famous entrepreneurs against each other, AFP news agency reports. 

Mr Ajavon, who amassed a fortune in the food industry, will run against fellow tycoon Patrice Talon, a cotton magnate. 

Mr Talon is considered the main opponent of the governing party's candidate, Lionel Zinsou, the current prime minister who is a former investment banker, AFP reports. 

President Thomas Boni Yayi is stepping down at the end of his two terms. 

 "I said yes to your request to be president, regardless of what sex, religion, political affiliation or region you come from," Mr Ajavon said at a campaign rally in the main city Cotonou on Sunday. 

Militants from the Islamic State (IS) group have been pushed back after launching an assault near key oil facilities in northern Libya, an army official has said, AFP news agency reports.  

The militants first carried out a suicide car bomb attack on a military checkpoint at the entrance to the oil town of Sidra, killing two soldiers, said a colonel in the army loyal to the internationally recognised government, AFP reports. 

 "We were attacked by a convoy of a dozen vehicles belonging to IS," Bashir Boudhfira is quoted as saying. 

"They then launched an attack on the town of Ras Lanuf via the south but did not manage to enter," he added. 

 An unnamed Libyan oil official told AFP that a 420,000-barrel oil tank in Ras Lanuf caught fire during the clashes.  

Image source, AFP

Meanwhile, IS said it had taken "full control" of the coastal town of Bin Jawad, 30km (19 miles) west of Sidra on the road from its stronghold in Sirte.

Read the full BBC news story here

Image source, AFP

Tanzania is introducing the teaching of Chinese in several schools, as it strengthens ties with China, reports the BBC bureau in the main city, Dar es Salaam. 

The government has identified six secondary schools in Dar es Salaam, the capital Dodoma and the eastern city of Morogoro to be part of the pilot project. 

It said it had already recruited 12 Chinese language teachers. Beijing has financed many infrastructure, aid and development projects in Tanzania. 

The two countries have historical links dating back to Tanzania's campaign against British colonial rule.

Uganda's Communication Commission (UCC) has sent out a tweet, denying it has banned a peace song by popular musician Robert Kyagulanyi ahead of next month's election: 

  UCC spokesman Fred Otunnu told the BBC that an earlier tweet was wrongly worded, giving the impression that it had been banned (see our previous post).    

Here's the song if you want to listen to it:

Patience Atuhaire
BBC Africa, Kampala

Ugandan authorities have banned the airing of a song by popular musician Robert Kyagulanyi, known as Bobi Wine, accusing the artist of a possible violation of broadcasting standards.

The song - "Dembe" - released on New Year's Eve, is a message against violence and calls for peaceful elections. 

The artist accuses the country's leaders of encouraging the youth to participate in violence ahead of February's elections.

He goes on to say that if there happens to be a transfer of power, it can and should happen peacefully. 

Long-serving President Yoweri Museveni is vying for a fifth term in office.

Bobi Wine told me this morning that when his team took copies of the song to radio stations, they were turned away, and told the stations had been warned not to play it. 

Bobi Wine is known for his politically and socially-conscious lyrics.

Zambia's presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on 11 August under a new constitution, a government spokesman said, Reuters news agency reports.

"The new constitution has a fixed election date and that will take effect as soon as the president signs," Amos Chanda said.

President Edgar Lungu is expected to sign the constitutional amendments into law on Tuesday. 

The elections are expected to be tight contest between Mr Lungu's governing Patriotic Front (PF) party and Hakainde Hichilema's opposition United Party for National Development (UPND). 

Other amendments include a clause requiring a winning presidential candidate to get more than 50% of the votes cast, Mr Chanda said.

Mr Lungu took office a year ago in elections held after the death of then-President Michael Sata.  

Image source, AFP