Tomi Oladipo
BBC Monitoring's Africa security correspondent

There has been a decrease in military spending in Africa over the past two years, a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, external (Sipri) says.

In the previous 12 years money spent on the armed forces rose year on year.

Sipri estimates that in 2016 Africa's military spending came to $38bn (£29bn).

The report links the largest military spending cuts to falling oil revenues and related economic problems. 

Two key oil exporters, Angola and South Sudan, had some of the most notable decreases in 2016. South Sudan slashed its defence spending by more than half.

Algeria was Africa’s biggest spender, and one of the few to have an increase with $10bn - close to 7% of its GDP – going on its military. 

Image source, AFP

Millions of Ghanaians were left without electricity last night after a massive power outage which affected "virtually every part of the country", according to the head of the national grid, local media report.

"There was a surge of power around 9:40pm last night; we lost many generators across the country," GRIDCo chief executive William Amuna told Citi FM, external.

He told the station that he expected full power to be restored by 10am local time (10:00 GMT).

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the blackout, but have suggested it could have been down to a lightning strike. 

It was not due to any planned load-shedding, according to Mr Amuna.

The last nationwide blackout, in January 2016, was blamed on a "system failure".

Read more: Eight surprising consequences of Ghana's power outages , external

The magistrate's court looking into the treason case against Zambia's opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema is deciding whether it should be referred to the high court (see earlier story).

If it is, then his defence team is confident that it will be thrown out, the BBC's Karen Allen reports from the court.

The opposition believes the treason charges are an attempt to silence Mr Hichilema.

But presidential spokesman Amos Chanda told the BBC that the court case should run its course and that Mr Hichilema's UPND should "act like an opposition".

He added that President Edgar Lungu is happy to meet Mr Hichilema but the UPND is reluctant to do this.

Our reporter says diplomatic efforts are under way to try and resolve the problem.

Mr Hichilema was arrested after his convoy allegedly refused to give way to the president's motorcade.

Image source, AFP

South Africa's eNCA news has posted a video on Facebook, external of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe defending his economic record.

He was asked at the World Economic Forum meeting in Durban if Zimbabwe was a fragile state (see earlier post).

Image source, eNCA

He said "that is not true" and called Zimbabwe "one of the most highly developed countries in Africa, after South Africa".

Backing up his case he cited the 90% literacy rates among other achievements.

"I don't think of us as a fragile state from an economic point of view. 

"Yes, we have our problems... but we have resources, perhaps more than the average country... and our agriculture is very viable and this year we will have a bumper harvest".

In the UN Development Programme's Human Development Index, Zimbabwe is ranked as low, external, at 154th place in the world.

Neighbouring Botswana is 108th, South Africa is 119th and Algeria is 83rd.

Zambia's opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema, who is facing treason charges, is back in the magistrate's court in the capital, Lusaka, for more hearings about his case.

A BBC reporter is tweeting from the court:

Mr Hichilema is accused of trying to overthrow the government of President Edgar Lungu.

He was arrested last month after the convoy he was travelling in allegedly refused to give way to the president's motorcade 

A drought in many parts of Kenya's farming areas has cut tea production by more than a third in the first quarter of 2017, a trend that is expected to continue throughout the year, the Tea Board of Kenya said on Thursday, Reuters news agency reports.

The average price of the crop at the auction rose to $3 (£2.30) per kg during the period from $2.50 a year earlier, the industry regulator added. 

Image source, Reuters

An Egyptian school drop-out is hoping to make history after spending three years painstakingly creating what he believes to be the world's largest Koran.

Saad Mohammed's intricately decorated, hand-drawn scroll is 700 metres long (2,296ft) - which means, when it is unrolled, it is almost twice as tall as the 381-metre-high Empire State Building.

Image source, Reuters

And up until now, Mr Mohammed, who lives in the town of Belqina, north of Cairo, has funded every centimetre of his passion project.

He believes the scroll is long enough to make it into the Guinness World Records, which has yet to set a record for the largest handwritten Koran.

But in order to achieve his dream and make it into the record book, he needs some help with the cost of entering.

Read more on BBC News Online

Image source, Reuters

Somalia's security forces have shot dead a 31-year-old government minister after mistaking him for a militant Islamist, officials have said.

He was killed in his vehicle near the presidential palace in the capital, Mogadishu, the officials added.

The president has cut short his visit to Ethiopia following Abas Abdullahi Sheikh's killing, state radio reports.

Somalia's security forces have been battling militants who carry out suicide and gun attacks in Mogadishu.

President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has vowed to bring those behind the killing to justice:  

Tributes have been pouring in for Mr Abas, who grew up and was educated in Dadaab, the world's biggest refugee camp, in north-eastern Kenya, before running for office. 

Former President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was among those offering his condolences on Twitter:

President Robert Mugabe has said that Zimbabwe is the most highly developed country in Africa after South Africa, News24 reports.

He made the comments during a panel discussion about fragile states at the World Economic Forum meeting in Durban.

Mr Mugabe was challenged by the panel chair Anton du Plessis about whether Zimbabwe was a fragile state.

A journalist at the meeting has been tweeting the president's response: 

He then went on to detail Zimbabwe's achievements:

Zimbabwe is currently experiencing a cash shortage due to a lack of US dollar notes - one of the country's official currencies.

A recent World Bank report, external said that while growth in 2016 was low at 0.4% it is predicted to grow by 3.8% this year.

BBC World Service

A parliamentary election is under way in Algeria with the government saying a strong turnout is essential for the stability of the country. 

The National Liberation Front of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is expected to retain its majority in parliament with its coalition ally, the Rally for National Democracy. 

But, despite Algeria's urgent economic problems, there is little sign of enthusiasm among voters, many of whom have become disillusioned by what they see as a failure to keep promises. 

The political system remains essentially presidential in nature so the parliament does not have much power and it is the poor health of President Bouteflika that is of major concern.  

Read more: Algeria election - what you need to know

Image source, Getty Images

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