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.  

A reminder of today’s African proverb:

Click here to send your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this picture of bloodhound "Cleo" with her handler in South Africa's Kruger National Park. The dogs have been trained to track the scent of poachers.

Image source, EPA

Three employees from the international charity Save the Children who were kidnapped last Thursday in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been released.

The men were taken when their vehicle was attacked in the Lubero region, in the east of the country.

Save the Children have confirmed that the men are safe and the UN humanitarian mission in DR Congo tweeted the news.

No details were given about the circumstances of the mens' release. 

Grace Itunuoluwa Akinwande, from Nigeria, is doing a master's degree in mathematics at the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Senegal - one of 12 female scientists in a group of 54.

"I love the fact I can interact with people from different fields, like physics and computer science," Ms Itunuoluwa Akinwande says about her placement studying graph theory.

"What is in your brain" is what counts when competing with male scientists, she adds.

The Nigerian mathematician spoke to the BBC ahead of the Next Einstein Forum, which is under way in Senegal and brings together key figures in science, policy, industry and society in Africa.

A statue of a cockerel which was one of the Benin Bronzes looted by British soldiers form Nigeria in the 19th Century has been removed from display at Cambridge University, following calls for it to be repatriated, the UK's Guardian newspaper reports. 

The future of the cockerel, known as the Okukor, will now be discussed by administrators at Jesus College, to decide the future of the statue, including possible repatriation to Africa.    

Nigeria has made repeated calls for the Benin Bronzes to be repatriated, describing them as part of its cultural heritage, the paper adds. 

BBC Witness: The looting of the Benin Bronzes

France has seized assets worth $29m (£20m) from Senegal's flamboyant former politician Karim Wade, a legal representative of Senegal has said, AFP news agency reports.

Ownership of two companies and six luxury apartments has been transferred to Senegal's government, Antoine Diome told AFP.

Wade, 47, is serving a six-year jail term in Senegal for corruption.

His father, Abdoulaye Wade, ruled the former French colony for 12 years, and appointed him to a powerful ministry.

President Macky Sall's government vowed to tackle corruption after winning fiercely contested elections in 2012.

Image source, AFP

If you had a chance to give advice and encouragement to your younger self what would you say?

The BBC's Tulanana Bohela in Tanzania's main city Dar es Salaam asked several women to imagine what they would say as part of International Women's Day celebrations.

Anna Mghwira, who ran for president is last year's elections, says "don't stop singing, it's good for your heart and soul".

You can see more from her here:

Security forces have discharged tear gas canisters to clear road blockages caused by taxi drivers protesting the introduction of the taxi-hailing app Uber in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

Lamia el-Etriby, who witnessed the events said the canisters were launched as a response to the taxi drivers leaving their cars.

"We are not leaving until an official comes and gives us his word that all these apps will be shut down in Egypt," Sherif Ali, a taxi driver and one of the protest organisers told AP news agency. 

Rana Jawad
BBC North Africa correspondent, Tunis

Image source, Nur Benzabeh

A group of Libyan women have been taking part in a festival to mark International Woman’s Day in what may seem like the most unlikely of settings – Benghazi. 

The eastern city has been battered by nearly two years of violent conflict.

Nur Benzabeh, a civil society activist in in the city said the event was “a huge step in shaking up the community to the importance of women”.  She says she hopes it will spread a “culture of braveness…under crisis”.

The event brought together women, young and old, and children in song, dance and poetry at a theatre in the city.

A popular local boy-band called Guys Underground also held a special live performance paying tribute to the ladies, much to the excitement of some young squealing fans.

Image source, Getty Images

Switzerland has agreed to return to Nigeria millions of dollars stolen by the former military ruler Sani Abacha, AFP news agency reports.

It says that Swiss authorities struck a deal with Nigeria to hand back $321m (£226m).

The agreement was signed in Abuja by Nigeria's attorney general and a visiting Swiss delegation - and seems to confirm last year’s announcement by the Geneva prosecutor's office about the return this money.

“We guarantee that recovered assets would be put to uses for which they have been intended,” Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo said in a statement released by his office. 

The money will only be returned once its agreed exactly how this will be done.

Gen Abacha was in power from 1993 to 1998 and is thought to have stolen more than $2bn of public funds - some of it being deposited in Swiss bank accounts.

Switzerland has already returned more than $720m of the money.

Image source, AFP

Two people have died and five are missing following an accident at a mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Glencore, a Switzerland-based company which has shares in Katanga Mining Limited, said a "geotechnical failure" in a wall at the copper and cobalt mine led to the accident near where the miners were working.

It confirmed that a rescue operation for the five missing miners is ongoing with two emergency rooms set up to support the search. 

A counselling centre for relatives of the miners has opened nearby. 

Ghanaian rapper and hip life artist Sarkodie dropped into the BBC studios in London earlier.

And fittingly, on International Women's Day (see earlier post at 12:47), the superstar shared a touching story with Focus On Africa radio's Bolo Mosuro about the influence his grandmother has had on his music.

Watch Sarkodie perform his track Adonai exclusively for the BBC's Destination Africa season in 2015.

Pictures have just come in of South Africa's President Jacob Zuma being welcomed at Nigeria's presidential villa today by military pipers and a guard of honour.

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

It's the first day of his two-day state visit.

Mr Zuma had a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari and spoke at the National Assembly.

He was keen to stress what the continent's two economic giants could achieve by working together.

Ghanaian Sellas Tetteh is to continue as caretaker coach of Sierra Leone after his loan agreement was extended.

He will take charge of Sierra Leone's upcoming matches against Gabon.

The games are on the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying schedule but no points are on offer as Gabon are hosting January's finals.

Image source, Getty Images

Read the full BBC Sport story

Felix Kambwiri has spent the last four months constructing a helicopter out of scrap metal and fibreglass in his garage, 90km (55 miles) north of the capital Lilongwe, AFP news agency reports.

It hasn't taken off yet, but Felix is optimistic about it taking to the skies, despite its makeshift nature. 

"I would like just to fly for even five minutes to show that I am serious about this and that it is not a joke. This helicopter can fly," he told AFP. 

Felix hasn't yet demonstrated that the helicopter can get off the ground as test flights have been banned until the civil aviation authorities have completed safety checks. 

You can watch the video below: 

Felix's wife Anne told AFP:  "I was frightened when I heard my husband was developing a helicopter, because he'd never done it before... "but later I accepted it, because everything is possible through God." 

A small group of students have turned out for a rare protest in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, the Reuters news agency reports.

They were demonstrating against the actions of the security forces, who have been accused of a crackdown over a wave of protests in the Oromia region.

Rights groups say that more than 200 people have been killed, a figure that the government disputes.

Reuters reports that Addis Ababa University students marched to the US Embassy with placards saying: "We are not terrorists. Stop killing Oromo people." 

At the last census in 2007, the Oromo made up Ethiopia's biggest ethnic group, at about 25 million people out of a population at the time of nearly 74 million.  

Image source, AFP

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has just finished speaking to Nigeria's National Assembly on the first day of his two-day state visit to the country.

He said that South Africa and Nigeria need to work more closely together on political, social, economic and cultural issues.

He also spoke about security on the continent and said: "Let the citizens of Africa march together to defeat all those forces that bring harm and suffering to our continent."

You can watch his speech and the reaction by rewinding the live stream of Nigeria's private Channels TV station:

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC Africa, Addis Ababa

Swedish authorities have requested Ethiopia to provide more information on how a stowaway go aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight and managed to reach the capital, Stockholm.

Police spokesman Kgell Lendgren says they are investigating if this was a case of human trafficking. 

"We are going to send a request with the questions: Can we have the story on how he got on board, when were the containers loaded, by whom and is there any crime we can investigate? But we are happy he is alive," he told the BBC Focus on Africa radio programme.

Ethiopian Airlines is yet to comment on the incident. 

Authorities here in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, will be hard pressed to answer how the stowaway managed to get access to the plane on an otherwise highly secure airport. 

In 2014, another man, who was later identified as an employee of the airline managed to safely get to the same airport in Stockholm aboard an Ethiopian Airlines plane.

Image source, AFP

BBC Focus on Africa TV presenter Peter Okwoche once harboured ambitions of becoming a hip-hop artist – something he revealed in a recent interview with British-Nigerian artiste Otty Warmann.

The up-and-coming singer, who’s been referred to as the UK’s John Legend, agreed to pass on some tips – and together they performed an impromptu duet, dubbing themselves “The Bow Tie Boys”.

Have a look:

Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Johannesburg

Students at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), external’s Soshanguve campuses, outside the capital, Pretoria, are outraged at the management’s decision to shut down, external the campuses for a month, according to Eye Witness News. 

The university made the decision yesterday after two weeks of violent demonstrations that saw several clashes, external between students, private security and the police. 

A group of students are demanding an immediate implementation of free education and an end to out-sourcing services. 

The university says the decision to close the affected campuses was made in order to ensure the safety of students and staff. 

The students were given until this afternoon to vacate the university premises, leading to tensions with some on campus claiming they did not have money to travel home. 

There has been a wave of demonstrations at universities here, many around the issues of racism, financial exclusion of poorer students and the working conditions of black employees.

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the South African telecoms firm MTN "contributed to the casualties" caused by Islamist militants Boko Haram.

His comments came during a joint press conference with South Africa's President Jacob Zuma, who is on a two-day state visit.

Mr Buhari was speaking publicly for the first time about the $3.9bn (£2.7bn) fine the Nigerian authorities imposed on MTN its failure to block unregistered sim cards.

He said it was a security issue:

Nigeria's president said that other mobile phone operators did comply with the telecoms regulators but "unfortunately, MTN was very very slow and contributed to the casualties".