That's all from the BBC Africa Live page today. Keep up-to-date with what's happening across the continent by listening to the Africa Today podcast or checking the BBC News website. 

A reminder of today's wise words:

Click here to send your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo of sporadic rain in a residential area in Ivory Coast's capital, Abidjan. 

Image source, Reuters

Police in Zimbabwe have clashed with protesters opposed to the new bond notes, issued on Monday by the central bank, to ease cash shortages, the AFP news agency reports.

The bond notes are equivalent to the US dollar. 

About 100 activists from the opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and the pressure group Tajamuka were chanting anti-government songs when police moved in to disperse them with tear gas and water cannon, AFP reports. 

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Protesters carried placards which said, "Bond notes Toilet tissue", while others denounced President Robert Mugabe, 92, as a "limping donkey". 

"We are not going to embrace bond notes," Hardlife Mudzingwa, a spokesman for Tajamuka, told AFP.  

Many cash machines now dispense half US dollars and half bond notes, the report adds.

Watch: Zimbabwe bond notes: Could new currency spell disaster?

Image source, Getty Images

Morocco's foreign ministry has accused African Union (AU) commission head Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma of frustrating its attempt to rejoin the organisation, 32 years after it left, Reuters news agency reports. 

Morocco revoked its membership in 1984 when the AU recognised Western Sahara as an independent state, and admitted it as a member. 

Morocco says Western Sahara is part of its territory.   

"The kingdom of Morocco denounces vigorously the manoeuvres of African Union commission head, who is trying to thwart Morocco's decision to regain its natural and legitimate place in the pan-African institutional family," the foreign ministry said in a statement. 

"At least 36 of the 54 AU member countries do not acknowledge the territory as a separate state and it is time to withdraw its recognition," it added.   

Image source, US mission in Somalia

Somalia has received $65,000 (£52,185) from the owners of a shipping vessel that was detained for illegally fishing in its waters, the US mission to Somalia has said in a statement.   

The Belize-registered, Panamanian-vessel was detained in October in the port-capital of Mogadishu with an estimated 30 tons of frozen fish. 

It was fined for possession of forged authorizations and licenses to operate in Somali waters and not providing catch report, the statement added. 

It was also found to be using banned fishing gear, specifically trawling gear, prohibited under the Somali Fisheries Law. 

The vessel illegally left Somali waters and attempted to enter neighbouring Kenya waters before being intercepted. 

It is currently moored in Kenya's Mombasa city. 

The US mission in Somalia said its aid arm will work with Somalia and vessel owners to agree on fishing routes so that Somalia does not lose fishing revenue. 

Image source, Foreign Press Association

Sudanese journalist Yousra Elbagir, external has won 2016 Thomson Foundation Young Journalist Award, external.  

She emerged the winner out of 100 entries from 42 countries. 

Ms Yousra, external managed the Sudan Voices Twitter account where she moderated a debate using the hashtag #SudanUnderSanction, external, asking Sudanese people on Twitter to discuss what it was like living for 19 years under US sanctions and a trade embargo.

The debate shed light on the marginalisation and isolation felt by the Sudanese community. 

An article Ms Yousra wrote about it was published in the UK-based Guardian newspaper, external. 

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Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

In a groundbreaking ruling, South Africa's highest court has ruled that unmarried gay couples in a permanent relationship have a right to inherit from one other. 

The case was brought by Rasmus Laubscher, the brother of Daniel Laubscher who died in 2015. 

He argued against his brother's estate going to his live-in partner Eric Duplan. 

The Constitutional Court said the Civil Union Act created a new category of beneficiaries, namely same-sex partners who had entered into registered civil unions. 

 "As a result, the court’s earlier inclusion of permanent same-sex partners within the definition of spouse was still operative,” Judge Boissie Mbha said in a majority judgement. 

The Commission for Gender Equality, a statutory body formed after apartheid ended in South Africa in 1994, supported Mr Duplan in his inheritance battle.

Image source, AFP

Kennedy Gondwe
BBC World Service, Lusaka

Princess Kasune is one of Zambia's most outspoken Aids activists and was recently elected to become its first publicly known HIV-positive MP.

She tested positive for HIV in 1997 and the next year went public about her status, defying her husband - and traditional taboos - in doing so.

Driven by a passion to see a generation free of HIV, her own decision to go public divided opinion - not at least with her late husband whom she suspects infected her as his first two wives had died.

Ms Kasune's church excommunicated her for being defiant, and going against her spouse's wishes about keeping her HIV status a secret.

Her own family was also against her status being known.

"I have not taken any moment in my life lightly but I have realised that to each one of us, there is a challenge and in this generation, HIV is one of those challenges," she says.

During her maiden speech, she reminded her fellow lawmakers about the importance of testing for the virus.

The 40-year-old MP later told the BBC: "I think we need to summon the courage and test publicly or share our results with the public."

Read more about Princess Kasune

Image source, AFP

Gambians have been suffering for 22 years under the rule of President Yahya Jammeh and now is the time for change, leading opposition candidate Adama Barrow has told the BBC ahead of tomorrow's presidential election.  

Mr Barrow,a former estate agent, has been picked by a coalition of opposition parties to challenge Mr Jammeh, who is running for a fifth consecutive term. 

In an interview with the BBC's Umaru Fofana, Mr Barrow said he was confident of victory: 

In response to Mr Jammeh's claim that he took "Gambia from stone age to modernity" by building schools and roads, the opposition standard-bearer said:

Read: The crack in Gambia's smile

A young chimpanzee, snatched from its natural habitat in Central Africa and sold three years ago to a zoo in northern Iraq, has been given sanctuary in Kenya, the AFP news agency reports. 

The four-year-old chimpanzee, named Manno, was sold by traffickers to Dohuk zoo in Iraqi Kurdistan for about $15,000 (£12,000), according to Animals Lebanon, which arranged for its transfer to Kenya.  

The animal welfare charity's Jason Mier was quoted by AFP as saying: 

Manno lived in isolation in the zoo. It is now on its way to a primate sanctuary in Kenya, AFP reports. 

The "lifeless" body of a stowaway has been found in the wheel well of a plane which flew from Nigeria's commercial hub, Lagos, to South Africa's main city, Johannesburg, Arik Air has said in a statement. 

 South African engineers at OR Tambo International Airport discovered the body during an inspection of Arik Air's A330-200 passenger aircraft, the firm added. 

"Investigations are ongoing to determine how the stowaway found his way into the aircraft's main wheel well," it said.

Arik Air is one of Nigeria's biggest airlines.    

We reported earlier that a group of Sudanese lawyers had gathered outside the high court in the capital, Khartoum, to take part in a protest denouncing price rises, corruption and alleged human rights abuses by the government. 

Reports say that at least one lawyer has been arrested. 

We have received pictures from the protest:  

Image source, MANAL KHAWJAL

Image source, MANAL KHAWJAL

Image source, MANAL KHAWJAL

Suzy Eises is a saxophonist from Namibia who has shared the stage with South Africa’s Jimmy Dludlu and other African artists.

She's been telling the BBC about working on her debut album and teaching jazz and the sax to young kids in the Namibian capital Windhoek.

Watch the interview here:

Image source, AF

An engineering student from Niger, Mariama Mamane, has set herself the challenge of generating electricity out of a highly invasive plant commonly known as the water hyacinth, Le Monde Afrique news site reports, external. 

The 26-year-old, who studies at a university in Burkina Faso, says she noticed that the water hyacinth was a naughty plant which can dry up water reserves and kill other plants in its neighbourhood. 

To fight the environmental hazard posed by the plant, the water hyacinth is often uprooted and buried on landfill sites. 

But Ms Mamane figured out that the wasted plant could be recycled into something useful, telling Le Monde Afrique: 

Image source, AFP

Nigeria's telecom regulator has withdrawn a directive to mobile phone operators to increase prices of internet data.

In a statement, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said the decision had been taken following complaints from consumers across the country and consultaions with mobile phone firms. 

See earlier post for more details

Image source, AFP

Mali's former junta leader, Amadou Sanogo, has gone on trial for murder in a concert hall which has been turned into a courtroom. 

The US-trained officer allegedly ordered the execution of 21 soldiers from an elite corps of the army for an attempt at staging a counter-coup against him a month after his March 2012 putsch. 

"I'm in fine spirits. I was waiting for this day," Mr Sanogo told AFP news agency at the opening of the trial, held in a packed concert hall in Sikasso, 370 kilometres (230 miles) south-east of the capital, Bamako. 

  He was arrested in 2013 after civilian rule was restored.  

James Copnall
Africa editor, BBC World Service

A suspected jihadist on a motorbike has opened fire on the American embassy in the Chadian capital Ndjamena. 

Nobody was hurt, and the man was arrested by police guarding the building. 

He is reported to have been carrying a document in which he swore allegiance to the Islamic State group. 

Chad's armed forces are fighting jihadists in the Sahara, as well as Boko Haram, the Islamist group which started in Nigeria but now also operates in Chad and other neighbouring countries. 

Hosts Cameroon beat Ghana with a solitary goal in the semi-finals of the Women's Africa Cup of Nations tournament. Raissa Feudijo scored the only goal.

Cameroon will now face Nigeria in the finals after they beat South Africa by the same score. 

The BBC's Nick Cavell in Yaounde has shared pictures from the game: 

Yasine Mohabuth
Port Louis, Mauritius

Image source, Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation.

A Nigerian student has been arrested in Mauritius following the seizure of alleged heroin hidden in small pots of a cosmetic brand. 

Uchenna Philips Okafor, 23, was nabbed by police on Tuesday in the sea side town of Flic-en-Flac during a sting operation.

Mr Okafor, who lives in Mauritius, has not yet commented on the allegation that he was dealing in drugs. 

About 250 grams of heroin worth 3.7 million Mauritian rupees ( $103,000, £82,397) was concealed in 26 small containers of a cosmetic brand, and intercepted at the island's main airport on Sunday by customs officers and bloodhounds of the Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit, police say. 

The consignment, allegedly addressed to Mr Okafor, had been sent from Charles de Gaulle airport in France.

Police allege that South African rands, US dollars, Mauritian rupees and Bangladesh takas were seized from Mr Okafor's home, along with a fake Mauritian identity card.

He is expected to appear in court today, and will answer to a provisional charge of attempting to take a delivery of drugs. 

BBC World Service

Security forces in Sudan's Omdurman city have fired tear gas to break up the latest in a series of protests against the government's decision to cut subsidies on fuel and medicine.   

In a separate demonstration, dozens of lawyers gathered outside the high court the capital, Khartoum to denounce the price rises, corruption, and alleged human rights abuses by the government. 

Political tensions are high in the country. The authorities have arrested several opposition politicians and seized the entire print runs of newspapers which criticised the austerity measures. 

Image source, AFP

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has survived several attempts to bring him down over following allegations of corruption against him. 

In the latest attempt, several members of his cabinet pushed for his removal at a meeting of the top leadership of the governing African National Congress (ANC), but they failed.

A local TV station has now published a cartoon of the Mr Zuma, 74, continuing to defy gravity, this time with a little help of  a trampoline held by party loyalists:

Read: The controversial and colourful Zuma