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

A reminder of today's wise words:

And we leave you with this photo, also from Nigeria, showing a guard in front of the Emir of Kano's palace during Eid celebrations. It's one of our favourite shots this week.

Image source, Reuters

Does Togo's President Faure Gnassingbé have anything new to offer?

That's the question being asked by Olusegun Obasanjo, the former President of Nigeria and ex-chair of the Commonwealth Election observer group.

Mr Obasanjo sits down with Focus on Africa TV's Peter Okwoche to share his views about opposition protests in Togo which have entered their third day:

A planned US-Africa energy summit has been cancelled after participants travelling from Africa were all denied visas, Kenya's Business Daily reports, external organisers as saying.

The conference had been scheduled to take place in Madison, Wisconsin.

Samba Baldeh, a native of Gambia and an elected official in Madison, says:

African ambassadors to the US from Botswana, Ghana and South Africa were listed as speakers at the event, as was the co-ordinator of former President Obama's Power Africa programme, the news site says.

By denying them entry, the US has “squandered a great opportunity for energy-deprived nations to work with advanced energy providers of the US and Wisconsin," Mr Baldeh added in comments reported by the Wisconsin State Journal.

One of the organisers, Mary Flowers, told Voice of America that the past three events went ahead despite around 40% of would-be participants being denied visas.

But she added:

Up for grabs at this year's Savanna Comics' Choice Awards in South Africa is the very first prize for 'Pan-African comic of the year'.

Our colleague Christian Parkinson decided to meet some of the continent's top comedians to ask them the question: 'What makes African comedy unique?'

One of our colleagues has just shared with us a video of Tanzania's President John Magufuli interrupting a TV reporter as he was filing his story.

The reporter, who has been identified as Florian Kaijage, looked surprised as he looked over and saw who tapped him on the shoulder.

Mr Magufuli then shook the reporter's hand as he praised his station, Azam TV, for "doing a good job" and asked him to convey his greetings, presumably to the viewers.

Watch their interaction below (in Kiswahili):

The head of Togo's main opposition alliance has told President Faure Gnassingbe to quit power immediately or expect more protests against his family's 50-year rule, Reuters news agency reports:

Over the past three days, hundreds of thousands of Togolese have heeded a call from the oppositon to stage protests across the country to demand constitutional reform, including reduced presidential term limits.

We reported earlier that police had used tear gas to disperse demonstrators at an overnight sit-in in the capital, Lomé.

Holding up what appears to be used tear gas canister, this protester told Reuters news agency a few hours ago:

Image source, Reuters

Reuters news agency has also filed these photos, showing police using tear gas against protesters who have been burning tires in Lome's opposition stronghold of Be:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

BBC Africa's satirical series What's Up Africa is back.

On the first show in the series, host Ikenna Azuike looks at the troubles of British public relations firm Bell Potinger.

The company, which is currently facing administration as we reported earlier, was accused of running a social media campaign in South Africa which according to main opposition party Democratic Alliance was meant to stir racial disharmony in the country.

Ikenna looks at possible clients for the UK firm, who could do with a make over, including one infamous character - the devil himself.

He also looks at the recessions in Nigeria and South Africa, and other topics:

Image source, Reuters

Police in Rwanda have once again arrested opposition politician Diane Rwigara at her home in the capital, Kigali.

Her mother Adeline Rwigara and her sister Anne Rwigara, were also picked up, a relative has told the BBC.

He said that the three were taken at 11:10 local time (08:10 GMT).

The three women returned home on Monday after police conducted a raid on their family home and took them into custody, as part of what they say are continued investigations into alleged forgery and tax evasion.

After releasing the women, police tweeted said they would be calling upon them again at any time to help in their probe.

Diane Rwigara, is a renowned women's activist in Rwanda, who attemped to run for the presidency in last month's election but was disqualified.

Investigators allege that Ms Rwigara committed an electoral offence by collecting forged signatures to endorse her candidacy.

She has however denied the allegation, saying instead that she met all the requirements to run.

Police also accuse her mother and sister of being involved in tax evasion, an allegation that the family has denied.

BBC World Service

The campaign group, Human Rights Watch, has accused the armies of Mali and Burkina Faso of committing serious abuses in their operations against Islamist militants in central Mali.

The group said Malian forces had committed extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, and arbitrary arrests against men accused of supporting Islamist armed groups.

It also said a cross-border operation by Burkinabe forces in June left two suspects dead.

The rights group said the abuses occurred between late 2016 and July 2017 during operations in the central region of Mopti.

The humble cassava root is increasingly in demand from consumers as a gluten-free substitute for wheat and maize.

Once it's ground down to create cassava flour, the root vegetable can be used in a wide range of dishes, including pastries.

"We're seeing sales doubling from month to month," says one producer who sells the flour to Kenya, Europe and China:

Watch more highlights from Africa Business Report

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

At least 20 people have been killed in an attack on a village in Nigeria's central Plateau state.

Many others were wounded in the overnight raid on the village of Ancha, in the Bassa district.

Residents have accused herdsmen of being behind the raid as a reprisal for a killing last week.

Police have yet to issue a statement on the incident.

Plateau state lies in Nigeria's so-called Middle Belt, between the mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south.

There have been numerous ethnic and religious clashes in the region in recent years.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) will begin an inspection visit to Kenya on Monday ahead of next year's African Nations Championship (CHAN).

The trip had been scheduled to start on 7 September but was postponed, external because of uncertainty following the annulment of President Uhuru Kenyatta's win in last month's election.

However, a new date for the presidential re-run has been set for 17 October, which clears the way for Caf's visit to go ahead.

The delegation, led by the second Vice-President of Caf, Constant Omari Selemani, will spend eight days in Kenya in what will be their third and final inspection visit.

Kenya is scheduled to host the biennial tournament which features only locally-based players, between 12 January and 4 February 2018.

Rwanda hosted the last CHAN tournament in February 2016, which was won by the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Image source, AFP

BBC World Service

The campaign group, Human Rights Watch, says its website has been blocked in Egypt after it reported on the use of torture by the security forces there.

The organisation says that instead of addressing the abuses that had been exposed, the authorities were preventing people seeing the report that documented them.

The rights group has alleged that the torture of political detainees is systematic in Egypt, and that those behind it operate with almost total impunity.

The government has described the report as defamatory and biased.

Image source, AFP

Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga has asked supporters to fund his campaign ahead of the presidential election re-run set for 17 October.

Mr Odinga's political fortunes were revived after the Supreme Court annulled President Uhuru Kenyatta's win in last month's election citing "irregularities and illegalities".

He told a media briefing in the capital, Nairobi, that "anybody who wants to go to Canaan should buy a ticket" by sending money to the party's bank and mobile money accounts.

Mr Odinga is casting himself as the biblical Joshua who will lead Kenyans to the promised land, Canaan.

The opposition leader has said in the past that he opposes the 17 October date, and would prefer a date later in the month.

He has even suggested that forthcoming national examinations for primary and secondary students should be postponed to accommodate the poll, which must be held before 1 November.

Mr Odinga has also been critical of Kenya's electoral commission (IEBC), saying that it bungled the 8 August election and must make changes to its staff before the re-run.

Image source, Chadema

Tanzania's police boss Simon Sirro has asked the public not to speculate over Thursday's shooting of a lawmaker in the capital, Dodoma.

He said that it was "causing disorder":

The lawmaker,Tundu Lissu, had emergency surgery in the capital but has since been transferred to a hospital in neighbouring Kenya.

The Reuters news agency had reported, quoting a spokesman of the main opposition party, Chadema, that Mr Lissu had "suffered multiple gunshot wounds".

The police told Reuters that they did not know the motive behind the attack and that the suspects were not in custody.

The BBC's Sammy Awami reports that Mr Lissu is the most vocal opposition politician in the country, a role which has found him in trouble with the authorities.

In July last year, he accused President John Magufuli of “creating a climate of fear in the country and constructing a system based on favouritism, tribalism and regionalism”.

President John Magufuli tweeted yesterday that he was praying for the MPs recovery.

"I've been saddened by the gun attack on Tundu Lissu, I'm praying to Almighty God that he may recover soon."

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC Africa, Addis Ababa

The United Nations says it is concerned about plans to hold elections in war-torn South Sudan next year.

The South Sudan government last week announced it would go ahead with the polls in mid 2018, despite a bloody civil war that has lasted more than three years.

The UN Special Envoy to the African Union, Haile Menkerios, says the situation in South Sudan is currently not conducive for the holding of elections as announced by the government.

Speaking at a joint Security Council meeting between the UN and the African Union in Addis Ababa, Mr Menkerios instead urged the warring parties to focus on implementing a peace deal signed two years ago.

The agreement, which established a transitional government, has however failed to hold. Instead, fighting has spread into parts of South Sudan that were previously largely peaceful.

The UN says more than four million people have been displaced both internally and externally since fighting broke out in December 2013.

That's the hare-brained suggestion from our satirical heads of state Kibarkingmad and Olushambles.

The Resident Presidents are convinced that moving Abuja's Aso Villa to London would be a "cheaper way to keep President Buhari going".

Listen to them setting the world to rights:

More from BBC Focus on Africa radio

Image source, Getty Images

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma has blamed witchcraft for his party's failure to beat the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) in its Western Cape stronghold, the Sowetan Live reports, external:

The news site quotes President Zuma as saying that ghosts might even been voting to keep the DA in power, during the speech made in both isiZulu and isiXhosa languages:

The Sowetan Live also quotes Mr Zuma as saying that witches even "use electricity" these days.

He made the comments yesterday while addressing fellow party members at Lwandle Hall‚ in the south-western town of Strand, a year after his governing ANC party suffered crushing defeats in local elections.

The DA won control from the ANC in key areas in 2016, including the capital Pretoria and the city of Cape Town‚ which it won with a two-thirds majority.

President Zuma accused his opponents of "[using] large sums of money‚ buying people", referring to the eight unsuccessful votes of no-confidence held against him, the Sowetan Live reports.

The news site also quote Mr Zuma as saying he would never disappear, even if people poisoned him:

BBC World Service

Police in Nigeria say gunmen had kidnapped 14 passengers on board a bus in the south-east of the country.

A spokesman for Rivers State police Nnamdi Omoni told the BBC that the abductions happened on Thursday.

He said 11 people have been released but three are still being held.

Mr Omoni said the bus was heading north from the oil hub of Port Harcourt towards the city of Owerri.

A South African mother-of-two has designed an outfit using a distinctive local cloth for Serena Williams' baby daughter.

“I was looking for a way in which to incorporate shweshwe, a fabric produced in the Eastern Cape, into my baby wear range to make a garment that the international market could also appreciate,” Paula Jones told the Herald Live, external.

Tennis star Serena Williams gave birth to a baby girl at a clinic in Florida last week.

Ms Williams and her partner, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, have not yet shared the name of their first child.

Ms Jones has sent the two-piece outfit to the athlete's agent in the US, and says she hopes there will be a demand for more.

Image source, Reuters