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 us your African proverbs

And we leave you with this photo of a boy getting a haircut seated in a fancy barber's chair in the city of Hargeisa in the self-declared republic of Somaliland. 

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

South Africa is to introduce a new national minimum wage for the first time from  May 2018.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa told a media briefing in parliament the rates would be:

• 3,500 rand ($261, £209) a month for a 40-hour week
• 3,900 rand ($290, £232) a month for a 45-hour week.

Businesses that cannot afford the rate will have to apply for exemption which would last for a year.

Mr Ramaphosa said it was going “to be a massive task”:

The government believes this agreement with unions will limit protracted wage strikes which end up in violence and a breakdown of law and order including damage to property.

Leone Ouedraogo
BBC Africa

Image source, AFP

At least four people have been killed in Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic, following clashes between security forces and a militia group. 

A militia leader known as “Big Man” had resisted arrest before gunfire was heard in the PK-5 neighbourhood. 

He is accused of multiple crimes and the authorities had been looking for him for some time. 

PK-5 has been the centre of inter-community violence in Bangui following the overthrow of former President Francois Bozize in 2013.  

No official death toll has been given and it is not clear if the militia leader is among the dead.

Minister of Public Security Jean-Serge Bokassa has called for calm:

Jose Tembe
BBC Africa, Maputo

Nearly 24,000 hectares (59,305 acres) of crops in Mozambqiue have been devastated by the combined effects of drought and flooding since October, the government announced today.

Spokesperson for the Mozambican cabinet, Mouzinho Saide, who is also the deputy health minister, said 47 people had also died as a result of floods in that period.

To give you an idea of how to visualise that - most sports fields are about one hectare in size. 

The move by athletics' governing body, the IAAF, to ban athletes from changing nationalities has divided opinion in Kenya.

Elias Makori, sports editor at Kenya's Nation Media Group, says that the rules have to be stringent as scouts can take advantage of young athletes.

Moses Kiptanui, former world record holder in steeplechase, disagrees, saying that athletes should be allowed to make their own decision about which country they represent.

Listen to the exchange on the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme: 

Image source, AFP

Equatorial Guinea's government is testing out what will be its new capital, an unfinished city deep in a rainforest, for the next three months, the AFP news agency reports.

For the next 90 days Djibloho will reportedly be the government's headquarters.

The official capital is Malabo, on the island of Bioko.

Djibloho, also known as Oyala, lies in the middle of a rainforest region, not far from the eastern border with Gabon. 

The BBC's Stephen Sackur reported in 2012 the city is expected to be ready in a decade.

It will house the president, the government and - according to the master plan - up to 200,000 people, he reported at the time.   

Read: Equatorial Guinea: Obiang's future capital, Oyala

Pirates have kidnapped seven Russians and one Ukrainian national after attacking their cargo ship off Nigeria's coast, the Reuters news agency reports, quoting communication from the Russian embassy. 

The crew were travelling in a vessel named BBC Caribbean, which is managed by shipping company Briese Schiffahrts.

Pavel Fedulov, the director of a Briese Schiffahrts subsidiary in St Petersburg reportedly said that the pirates approached the vessel on a boat, captured the crew and left on the boat heading towards Nigerian shores.

The Russian embassy has asked the Nigerian authorities to assist in locating the abducted people, Reuters reports.

It says as oil prices have dropped, pirate gangs have taken to abducting crew for ransom as a way to make more money.

Image source, AFP

Thandiswa Mazwai’s new album pays homage to some of the South Africa’s iconic jazz musicians. 

The former Bongo Maffin singer tells the BBC why she thinks their anti-apartheid rebel music still resonates today:

Performance footage courtesy of Thandiswa Mazwai  

Somalis living in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, are celebrating the election of Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed "Farmajo" as president of Somalia. 

A video of a stream of people marching while singing and whistling in Eastleigh district, also known as little Mogadishu, has been shared on Twitter. 

Kenya has given refuge to Somalis who have fled instability in their country and hosts most of them in the Dadaab refugee camp close to the border between the two countries.

Abdullahi Abdi
BBC Somali service

Image source, Reuters

Somali’s new President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed is nicknamed “Farmajo” after the Italian word for cheese.

It is said he loved eating cheese when he was young, growing up in the former Italian colony.

He has dual Somali-American nationality and is known for his human rights campaigning.

In his fifties, he served for a short time as prime minister in 2011 but resigned after a few months following disagreement between him and then-President Sheikh Sharif Hassan.

He was not popular with other politicians as he portrayed himself as a man of the people, travelling economy class when he went on trips abroad.

Of the more than 20 other candidates, he was the most popular on social media – as he was regarded as a nationalist.

His main rivals were criticised for having the backing of either Ethiopia or Kenya

His supporters are opposed to foreign interference in the running of affairs in Somalia and want to see a change in the politics of the country.

A journalist covering the Somalia election says that wild cheers in the aircraft hangar greeted the election of Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo as president. 

Somalia's first female presidential candidate, who withdrew before the official race, has tweeted her reaction to Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo win, saying Somalia has been "saved":

People are tweeting that sounds of gunfire can be heard in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, as people celebrate the election of the president (see earlier entry).

One tweeter has tried to calm the fears of those visiting the country for the first time: 

Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmajo" Mohamed is Somalia's new president.

Incumbent Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has conceded, which means there will be no third round.

Image source, AFP

A BBC reporter in Mogadishu tweets that former Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has won the second round of voting 

He says people are already celebrating, but it is not confirmed if he has a two-thirds majority - if not there will be a third and final round.

Counting is under way in round two of the presidential election, and a BBC reporter at the aircraft venue in Mogadishu says it's between incumbent President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and a former prime minister, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed "Farmajo”:

It's been 37 years since Kenya's popular song Jambo Bwana, sometimes called Hakuna Matata, was recorded by the veteran Kenyan band, Them Mushrooms. 

The song first proved to be a huge hit among tourists on the Kenyan coast but its appeal has grown and crossed borders. 

Teddy Kalanda and his brother Billy Sarro Harrison, who recorded the song in February 1980, told the BBC's Witness programme how they came up with the song: 

Kenyan Senator Paul Njoroge has today appeared in court accused of misusing his firearm after the lawmaker fired into the air to stop an attempt to close a fuel pump station he runs. 

The senator, who represents people with disability in the upper chamber of parliament, shot once in the air forcing a group of workers and members of the public to scamper for safety. 

The incident that took place yesterday in Karai, along the busy Nairobi-Nakuru highway, local media reported. 

Mr Njoroge was later arrested by police and taken to court to answer to criminal charges. 

The Daily Nation newspaper said , externalhe was charged with "creating disturbances". It reported he was expected to enter a plea later today.

Alex Duval Smith
BBC Africa

Image source, AFP

Authorities in Benin have backed down from plans to ban Muslims from praying in the street, after reaching a compromise with religious leaders. 

Interior Minister Sacca Lafia said that street prayers would be tolerated on Fridays until more mosques are built, but they have to be quick.  

President Patrice Talon agreed that the state would provide financial support for building more mosques. 

The problem arises mostly on Friday afternoons when Muslims go to the mosque for prayers, says the administrator of Benin's largest city, Cotonou. 

A cascade of unrolling of mats, on pavements and streets outside overflowing mosques create massive traffic jams.

Muslim MPs and religious leaders have been saying that the ban on street prayers discriminates against their community. 

Mr Talon says the move is not anti-Muslim, but part of a plan to clean up cities and boost Benin's economic development.

About 25% of Benin's population is believed to be Muslim. 

The BBC's Ferdinand Omondi has just tweeted the reaction of a serving Somalia minister about the ongoing presidential election, which is being held in an airport hangar in the capital, Mogadishu: