Image source, Getty Images

Last year an in-depth investigation by Bloomberg business news revealed, external that Congolese President Joseph Kabila’s family have a network of business interests in the country including stakes in Congo’s biggest mobile-phone company and one of its largest banks.

“The sprawling network may help explain why the president is ignoring pleas” to hand over power, the site said at the time.

Seven months on and Mr Kabila has still not relinquished power even though his constitutionally-limited time in office has come to an end.

This time Bloomberg has turned its attention to the president's brother, external, Zoe, who is a member of parliament.

It has found that over the past seven years, the Canadian company Ivanhoe Mines has sold five mining licenses to Zoe’s companies.

Bloomberg points out that none of the companies have been accused of wrongdoing and it is not illegal to do business with a sitting member of parliament.

Still, it says, the Kabilas’ commercial interests extend across the economy making it difficult for corporations to operate without coming into contact with a company that has ties to a member of the ruling family.

Image source, Royal Society

Malian research scientist Alassane Dicko has won this year's Royal Society, external Africa prize for his work on malaria control.

The prize comes with $14,000 (£11,000) grant towards his research project, plus a $1,300 (£1,000) gift.

The Royal Society is one of the world's leading scientific institutes and brings together many of the world's most eminent scientists.

Tomi Oladipo
BBC Monitoring's Africa security correspondent

Image source, Reuters

South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir has declared a state of emergency in part of the country’s north-west.

The statement, broadcast on state television, did not give a reason for the decree.

The state of emergency is expected to last for three months.

The conflict in South Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than two million since 2013.

The last state of emergency was in 2014 in Unity State in the north and Jonglei in the east – as rebels fought government forces.

Tensions continue between both sides as heavy fighting has also escalated in the east of the country.

The United Nations says thousands of civilians have fled the town of Pagak and its surrounding areas, crossing the border into Ethiopia. Aid workers have also been forced to relocate.

Image source, Getty Images

Tanzania's communication regulator has fined six phone companies for giving out Sim cards without demanding users register their details.

Among them is Vodacom who were fined 945,000,000 Tanzanian shillings (£324,000; $422,00). Airtel, Smart, Tigo, Zantel and Halotel were also fined.

The Tanzania Regulations Communications Authority said in a press release that the phone companies had given out Sim cards without necessary documents like their ID and without taking photos of the subscribers.

In 2015, the Nigerian authorities fined the South African mobile phone company MTN $5.2bn after it failed to disconnect all non-registered Sim card.

That fine was later reduced after discussions between MTN and the Nigerian authorities.

#MandelaDay is trending on Twitter in South Africa as people share quotes and stories about what they're doing today, which marks the birthday of the country's former President Nelson Mandela.

People are also being asked to spend 67 minutes doing some form of charity work, representing the 67 years that Mr Mandela dedicated to the struggle against apartheid:

The former president was born on 18 July, 1918.

Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila has sacked the country's police chief Charles Bisengimana. He has been replaced by a former army general Amuli Bahigwa.

The president has also replaced the head of the police in the capital Kinshasa, Célestin Kanyama.

Mr Kanyama is one of those Congolese officials who has been sanctioned by the US and the European Union. He is accused of human rights abuses in cracking down on political demonstrations, among other things.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Egypt said it will end visas on arrival for Qatari citizens from Thursday, reports AFP news agency.

It will not include spouses of Egyptians or university students who will be granted tourist visas on arrival, foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid told AFP.

The change comes after Egypt, along with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have demanded that Qatar stop supporting the Muslim Brotherhood movement.

Read more: What you need to know about the Qatar crisis

The BBC Somali service celebrates 60 years of broadcasting today.

The service's Bashkash Jugsodaay told us no other station matches the Somali service's reach.

He explained that due to the civil war in the 1990s Somalis have spread all over the world.

"Go to a village in China and you will find a Somali," he said. And, he adds, "they will stop everything they are doing to find out what is going on at home".

Listen to him on BBC Newsday:

Education rights campaigner Malala Yousafzai has said that there should be a "state of emergency on education" in Nigeria, the Reuters news agency reports.

Nearly half of primary-aged children, some 10 million children, are not enrolled in school in Nigeria, Reuters quotes state figures as saying.

Addressing journalists in the capital Abuja after a meeting with the acting president, Malala said spending on education at a federal and state level should be made public.

Malala, who is also a Nobel laureate who became well known after the Taliban shot her in the head in 2012, is visiting Nigeria.

She met some of the women who were kidnapped by the Islamist militants Boko Haram in Chibok in 2014:

Reuters adds that she appealed for the release of 100 girls who are still believed to be in captivity.

BBC World Service

The African football authorities will begin a two-day meeting in Morocco today to discuss the future of the game on the continent.

Among the issues they will consider is the timing of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), which is played every two years and currently clashes with the European football season.

This presents a problem for many of Africa's star players who also represent European club sides.

Liverpool's Joel Matip was one of seven Cameroon players who said they did not want to go to Afcon earlier this year. The team did, however go on to win the cup.

Image source, Getty Images

Calls to move the Cup of Nations to June or July have previously been rejected, but Caf's new president has signalled that he is open to considering it.

There are reports that military and police have been deployed to parts of Ethiopia's Oromia state following protests over a new business tax that has been introduced recently.

The Addis Standard, external newspaper says that last week residents in one city, Ambo, damaged two state-owned vehicles, and this week businneses in other cities have shut in protest.

The new tax is being levied on small businesses with an annual turnover of up to 100,000 birr ($4,300; £3,300) in an effort to boost the tax base and raise much needed government revenue.

But the Addis Standard reports that business owners say tax assessors have over-estimated their revenue and are demanding too much.

It quotes one hairdresser who has been asked to pay $400, which is not much less than she earns a year.

The government says that there has been a misunderstanding about the tax rates and has tried to address the problems.

Last year, Oromia was hit by a wave of anti-government protests which led to the establishment of a state of emergency.

Welcome to the BBC Africa Live page where we'll be keeping you up-to-date with news stories on the continent.

Today's African proverb:

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