Summary

  • Uganda's president says his longevity is down to no alcohol

  • Mozambique to get 'healthy' sugar - with vitamin A

  • Zimbabwe’s President Mnangagwa under fire over new cabinet

  • Cameroon's president vows to end 'separatist terrorism'

  • Nigerians protest against Libya's slave markets

  • Egypt cleric denounces 'cancerous' militants

  1. Egypt cleric denounces 'cancerous' militantspublished at 13:13 Greenwich Mean Time 1 December 2017

    BBC World Service

    People hold candles in the memory of victims of the attack in north Sinai in front of the Press Syndicate in Cairo, Egypt, 27 November 2017Image source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    A vigil was held earlier this week in Cairo for those who died in the attack

    Egyptian religious and military leaders have joined worshippers for Friday prayers in a mosque in the Sinai peninsula a week after it was the scene of a massacre.

    Militants killed more than 300 people in what was the worst of attack of its kind in Egypt's modern history.

    The country's most senior Muslim cleric, Ahmed al-Tayyeb, described the attackers as a "cancer", and he appealed to local people to help the authorities root out the region's militants.

    Survivors of the massacre said the gunmen came carrying the black flag of the Islamic State group.

  2. Vow to end Cameroon 'separatist terrorism'published at 12:58 Greenwich Mean Time 1 December 2017

    Cameroon's President Paul Biya has vowed to end attacks by separatists in the English-speaking regions of the country, describing them as “a band of terrorists”.

    In a national radio address on his return from Ivory Coast last night, he is quoted saying about two incidents earlier this week:

    Quote Message

    I learned with emotion of the murder of four Cameroonian soldiers and two policemen in the south-west of our country.

    Quote Message

    I think that things are now clear to everyone. Cameroon is the victim of repeated attacks by a band of terrorists claiming to be part of a secessionist movement.

    Quote Message

    Faced with these attacks of aggression, I assure the Cameroonian people that all measures are being taken to end these criminals' ability to do harm."

    Mr Biya, 84, rarely speaks about the unrest that began in the English-speaking areas of western Cameroon a year ago.

    The people there complain of marginalisation by the French-speaking majority.

    A number of protesters have been killed and many others detained.

    According to the AFP news agency, the authorities have already imposed night-time curfews, restrictions on movement, raids and body searches in the English-speaking areas of western Cameroon.

    Read more: Can Cameroon learn from Catalonia?

  3. Mnangagwa’s delicate balancing actpublished at 12:09 Greenwich Mean Time 1 December 2017

    Analysis

    Stanley Kwenda
    BBC Africa

    Citizens celebrate with the national flag during the swearing in ceremony of Emmerson Mnangagwa as Zimbabwe's new presidentImage source, EPA
    Image caption,

    Zimbabweans want changes - especially to help boost the economy

    For many Zimbabweans, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s cabinet choices are a great betrayal of their trust.

    They felt his presidency was on a new trajectory but his ministers do not necessarily inspire confidence. They argue that it's a mere act of recycling deadwood.

    The disappointment is understandable, but it’s fair to note that this was never going to be easy for the new president.

    He has to perform a balancing act between his Zanu-PF party and state interests – and remember the role of the army in recent events.

    Mr Mnangagwa has no direct mandate from the people of Zimbabwe, but owes his path to power to Zanu-PF and to a larger extent the army.

    He has to manage those competing interests until elections next year.

    More broadly speaking, what is important is not the identity of the new ministers. What matters is what they will do in the job.

    Under former President Robert Mugabe they all worked to please him and achieve his goal of retaining power at all costs. He never gave them space to work.

    Mr Mnangagwa has eight months until the election to prove that these ministers can push in a new direction and come up with the new ideas the country so desperately needs.

  4. World Cup draw: Russian roulette jitterspublished at 11:59 Greenwich Mean Time 1 December 2017

    Piers Edwards
    BBC Africa Sport

    FIFA president Gianni InfantinoImage source, AFP
    Image caption,

    Fifa President Gianni Infantino will oversee his first World Cup since being elected

    Russia has never hosted a World Cup before – but on Friday afternoon, the iconic seat of government, the Kremlin, will take centre stage as it holds the draw for the finals.

    From 15:00 GMT, the 32 finalists will be divided into eight groups of four teams.

    They will be determined when selecting teams from four pots of seeds - which were calculated according to last month’s Fifa rankings.

    Former World Cup winners Diego Maradona and Marcel Desailly are among those who will help with the draw.

    Three of Africa’s teams - Egypt, Senegal and Tunisia - are in the third pot, while Nigeria and Morocco are in the fourth, and lowest, pot.

    Egypt have never won a game at the World Cup but are delighted to be at their first finals since 1990.

    Senegal have a proud run to the quarter-finals on their sole previous appearance in 2002 to defend, while Tunisia’s last, and only win, dates back to 1978.

    Nigeria, meanwhile, are Africa’s World Cup form team - having reached five of the last six tournaments - while Morocco are at their first finals since 1998.

    While the teams want a kind draw on the pitch, they are also hoping for a good draw in terms of the distance needed to travel in this vast country.

    This version of Russian roulette will determine what sort of World Cup we can expect in June.

  5. What's on the cards for 2018?published at 11:40 Greenwich Mean Time 1 December 2017

    With 2018 around the corner, it is the time for new year predictions.

    But take a deep breath - a report by ACAPS,, external a non-profit venture that supports humanitarian aid workers with daily monitoring and analysis of 150 countries, has found little to cheer.

    Lars Peter Nissen, the organisations's director, highlighted that the situation will be especially dire for several African countries:

    Quote Message

    If 2017 did not look good, predictions for 2018 are no better: Violence and insecurity are likely to deteriorate in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Ethiopia, Mali, Somalia, and Syria next year.”

    It adds that Ethiopia, Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan are at risk of famine.

    While massive displacement of people is expected among other places in DR Congo and Mali.

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  6. Is Thierry Henry a Kenyan Kikuyu?published at 11:22 Greenwich Mean Time 1 December 2017

    A promotional video of the beer company Guinness, starring former French football star Thiery Henry speaking Swahili, has got Kenyans excited, Nairobi News site reports. , external

    Henry, who is expected to visit the country later this month, says a few Swahili words in the video, like "mahindi choma", which means roasted maize - a Kenyan delicacy:

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    However it is his pronunciation of "kichwa", meaning head, when he talks about heading a ball - "piga mprira na kichwa" - that has got people talking.

    He mispronounces the word, saying "ki-sh-wa", which is a common error made by people mostly from the Kikuyu ethnic community when speaking Swahili.

    One tweeter is now claiming that Henry could be a Kikuyu:

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  7. Zimbabwe's indigenisation ministry scrappedpublished at 10:42 Greenwich Mean Time 1 December 2017

    Analysis

    Shingai Nyoka
    BBC Africa, Harare

    Election campaigning in Zimbabwe in 2013Image source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Robert Mugabe campaigned in 2013 for indigenisation, increasing black ownership of the economy

    Zimbabwe’s new President Emmerson Mnagangwa has delivered to some extent on a lean cabinet, reducing it from 26 to 22 and whittling away deputy ministers to six.

    But its the composition has drawn some criticism for including two military figures in top posts.

    Major General Sibusiso Moyo, the face of the military takeover and until then a relatively unknown figure, is the foreign affairs and international trade minister. He holds a PhD in international relations at one point was the leader of the elite green berets squad, the country's commandos.

    The head of the air force, Perence Shiri, was named the minister of agriculture and land affairs. He was linked to the mass killings of ordinary Zimbabweans in the mid 1980s at the behest of Robert Mugabe, who resigned as president last week.

    The military has had a controversial role in Zimbabwe’s politics and had been accused of keeping Mr Mugabe in power.

    The opposition had expected a role in the new cabinet but they have been left out.

    Party members had said it would be suicidal to have a coalition so close to elections, which are expected mid next year.

    While key shifts include getting rid of some of former President Mugabe’s allies, a key indication of a break from the past is the scrapping of the indigenisation ministry.

    It was responsible for enforcing the law which requires the ceding of majority stakes in foreign owned companies to black Zimbabweans.

    Read more: Five ways to revive Zimbabwe's economy

  8. Thumbs up for Zimbabwe mines and journalists?published at 10:27 Greenwich Mean Time 1 December 2017

    Maj Gen Sibusiso Moyo,Image source, AFP
    Image caption,

    Maj Gen Sibusiso Moyo, the face of the military takeover, is the new foreign minister

    Wilf Mbanga, a Zimbabwean journalist who lives in exile in South Africa, says the majority of the news cabinet are loyalists to former leader Robert Mugabe.

    But he told the BBC’s Newsday programme that he was impressed with some of the appointments, including Winston Chitando, the new minister for mines.

    Quote Message

    He’s a technocrat he’s been managing director of mining companies in Zimbabwe – he’s good news."

    He also gave the thumbs up to Christopher Mutsvangwa, who as a leader of the war veterans’ association had been expelled from the ruling Zanu-PF party last year for leading opposition to Mr Mugabe.

    He’s been appointed as information minister.

    Quote Message

    He’s also good news… he’s a former information officer… He’s well known to journalists; he’s very friendly and progressive.”

    He said he was most disappointed to see Lazarus Dokora back in cabinet as minister of education, given that he had faced criticism in the past from President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

    Quote Message

    He is a disaster – even the new president has even said so. Why has been reappointed? I don’t understand.”

    Mr Mbanga added that Perence Shiri, the commander of the air force, who has the ministry of agriculture, was “not known for his love of democracy".

    Quote Message

    He is the man who was in charge of Fifth Brigade, which was responsible for the massacres in Matabeleland, known as Gukurahundi.”

    Little was known about Maj Gen Sibusiso Moyo, the new foreign minister, who announced the military takeover on television in November, Mr Mbanga said.

    But the editor of The Zimbabwean newspaper felt it was payback for the risks taken in the events that led to Mr Mugabe's resignation last week.

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    He is a professional soldier. I think this is just a reward for making that announcement.

    Quote Message

    He was brave enough to go on television to make the announcement. If things had gone wrong he would have been the first to be hanged."

  9. World marks World Aids Daypublished at 10:25 Greenwich Mean Time 1 December 2017

    Countries around the world are today marking World Aids Day, a day set aside to raise since 1988 to raise awareness of the fight against the Aids pandemic.

    The UN agency that deals with combating the pandemic says that a lot of progress has been made, but that there needs to be a push for people to have a right to health services.

    It says that 21 million people around the world are receiving treatment but that 17 million others are missing out.

    Michel Sidibe, the executive director of UNAids, gave a video message:

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    He said that the goal to end Aids by 2030 will be severely undermined if access to health is not considered a right:

    Quote Message

    The world will not achieve the Sustainable Development Goals - which include the target of ending Aids by 2030 - without people attaining their right to health. The right to health is interrelated with a range of other rights, including the rights to sanitation, food, decent housing, healthy working conditions and a clean environment."

    He added that:

    Quote Message

    Western and central Africa is still being left behind. Two out of three people are not accessing treatment. We cannot have a two-speed approach to ending Aids."

  10. Zimbabwe's 'honeymoon comes to an end'published at 09:33 Greenwich Mean Time 1 December 2017

    Zimbabwean media mogul Trevor Ncube, who was key source of information and analysis during the ouster of President Robert Mugabe, has termed the new cabinet as "very disappointing".

    He adds that "the honeymoon has come to an end":

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    His comments are starkly different from his upbeat assessment on 18 November when he expressed optimism despite what he said were "possible risks and pitfall":

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  11. Zimbabwe's new cabinet 'disappoints'published at 09:06 Greenwich Mean Time 1 December 2017

    Zimbabweans have been reacting on social media to the new cabinet announced by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

    Some have criticised the new list which includes two army generals who played a major role in the removal of former President Robert Mugabe.

    Opposition figure Tendai Biti said that Zimbabweans may have "been naive" in hoping that the new administration will bring about change:

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    A minister who served in Mr Mugabe's government said the changes mean that the governing Zanu-PF party is "dead":

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    Another tweeterer used an old furniture to mock the new team:

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    Zimbabwe's only independent MP is however among Zimbabweans who have chosen to praise specific appointments rather than criticise the entire team.

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    The appointment of Christopher Mutsvangwa, the war veterans group chairman, as the information minister, has specially been well received:

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  12. Zimbabwe military get key cabinet postpublished at 09:05 Greenwich Mean Time 1 December 2017

    Andrew Harding
    BBC News

    President Emmerson MnangagwaImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Emmerson Mnangagwa was inaugurated as president a week ago

    Zimbabwe’s new president has appointed two military generals to his new cabinet in his first reshuffle since ousting Robert Mugabe.

    Critics have been quick to condemn President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s new line-up.

    It’s not the radical break with the past that some had hoped for.

    Instead Zimbabwe’s new cabinet features an army general as foreign minister, and the air force commander as the new agriculture minister.

    President Mnangagwa appears to be rewarding the military for ousting Robert Mugabe and paving the way for him to take power last week.

    Some of Mr Mugabe’s old allies have been removed, but other controversial and long-serving ministers are back in key jobs.

    Some call that stability. Others, a missed opportunity.

    Opposition politicians have condemned the new cabinet as a betrayal of the public’s hopes, and proof that the security forces – so powerful under Mr Mugabe – remain in charge of the country.

    The mood of reconciliation and unity that flourished in recent days looks set to be replaced by a more familiar struggle for power in next year’s elections.

  13. Good morningpublished at 09:01 Greenwich Mean Time 1 December 2017

    Welcome to BBC Africa Live where we will bring you the latest news and views from around the continent.