Angela Ngendo
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Image source, AFP

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has approved a law which allows low-income earners to secure loans from banks using livestock, crops and household appliances such as television assets and fridges as collateral.

The law is aimed at boosting the economy by making it easier for women, young people and small-scale farmers to get loans. 

Many women struggle to get loans because they do not own property. 

The chief executive of the Kenya Bankers Association, Habil Olaka, welcomed the approval of the Movable Property security bill

"It is a good development for the industry, the absence of this law meant that banks could not advance credit to people presenting mobile assets as collateral’’.

Last month, Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said he wanted a similar law to promote "financial inclusion" and give greater access to credit to those excluded under the current system. 

But bankers have raised concerns about the definition of assets, most of which are susceptible to rapid depreciation in value, the UK-based Financial Times reported, external at the time.

BBC World Service Africa Editor Mary Harper is tweeting live from the conference in London, where Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has been addressing delegates:

Mary is clearly in the thick of it. She managed to grab a photo with the president, who is nicknamed Farmajo because of his father's love of cheese.

Key excerpts from the speech are being shared on the president's Twitter account:

How do you solve a problem like Somalia?

BBC World Service

World leaders are attending a major summit in London on Somalia that is expected to increase humanitarian aid for the drought-stricken country and discuss improving security there. 

Speakers will include UK Prime Minister Theresa May, UN chief  Antonio Guterres and Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo.

The meeting is expected to agree a plan to train more Somali forces to replace the African Union troops currently fighting the militant Islamist group Al-Shabab.

The UK government has also said it is committed to preventing famine and will call for increased international aid. 

The UK Foreign Office is live-streaming the event, which is now under way:

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma is appealing against a High Court ruling ordering him to give reasons for his controversial decision to sack widely respected Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, 

The president's lawyers argue that the court overstepped its authority and the principle of the separation of powers by ordering him to release all documents linked to the sacking of the minister, local media report.

The opposition Democratic Alliance brought the court action after widespread condemnation of Mr Gordhan's dismissal. 

The move led to two global rating agencies downgrading South Africa to junk status. 

Image source, AFP

Zanzibar's government has temporarily shut down all schools on the island because of heavy flooding, the BBC Swahili website reports, quoting the education minister.

The decision has been taken for the safety of children and teachers after some schools were submerged, following heavy rains across the island, which is a semi-autonomous region of Tanzania.

Roads have also been damaged in the floods.

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