After the excitement of the announcement of the BBC African Footballer of the Year 2017, that's all from BBC Africa Live today. Keep up-to-date with what's happening across the continent by listening to the Africa Today podcast or check the BBC News website.

You can also find out more about the BBC's African Footballer of the Year by heading over to its dedicated live page.

Before we go, a reminder of today's wise words:

Click here and scroll to the bottom to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo from Mali's capital, Bamako:

Mohamed Salah, the winner of the BBC African Footballer of the Year 2017 award, receives the prestigious prize from Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

Image source, Reuters

It has not been a bad weekend for Mohamed Salah, smashing home a stunner in the Merseyside derby on Sunday, picking up his first African Footballer of the Year on Monday.

He told BBC Sport:

Efan Ekoku
Former Nigeria international

Salah has a maturity that he did not have at Chelsea.

He is one of the best attackers in world football.

Piers Edwards
BBC Africa Sport

Image source, AFP

Mohamed Salah is a worthy winner of this year's BBC African Footballer of the Year award - as it is very hard to argue with what he has achieved.

He has shone both at club and international level.

Starting with the latter, he helped Egypt reach the Africa Cup of Nations final in February - having a hand in four of the Pharaohs' five goals in Gabon.

Things got even better in October, when he scored a dramatic stoppage-time penalty against Congo that secured a 2-1 win and a place in the World Cup for the first time since 1990.

Incredibly, of the seven goals that Egypt scored to get to Russia, Salah scored five while making the other two.

No wonder that some fans have nicknamed Egypt the 'Pass to Salah' team.

Salah, 25, started the year with AS Roma in Italy, scoring 15 goals and assisting 11 others as the side from the Italian capital finished second, their best placing in seven years, behind champions Juventus.

And now, having joined Liverpool in June, Salah's form has been so impressive that he is the current Premier League top scorer - above the likes of Harry Kane and others - having netted 13 goals in his first 16 league games for the club.

It's a run of form throughout the year that persuaded the fans to vote for him.

Egyptian Mohamed Salah has been voted BBC African Footballer of the Year for 2017.

Following a record number of votes, the Liverpool star won ahead of Gabon's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Guinean Naby Keita, Sadio Mane of Senegal and Nigeria's Victor Moses.

The 25-year-old told BBC Sport:

We can now reveal that Gabon's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will not be winning the award this year.

That leaves us with just two men left - the Liverpool duo of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.

Club: Borussia Dortmund

Nation: Gabon

Age: 28

Club efforts in 2017: The fashion-loving forward hit 40 goals in all competitions as Dortmund won the German cup.

International efforts in 2017: The Gabon captain had a year to forget as his country became only the fourth Africa Cup of Nations hosts to exit in the group stage, despite his two goals in three games.

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, Getty Images

Yep, it's the Chelsea man. He has had some injury problems this season but is fit again.

Club: Chelsea

Nation: Nigeria

Age: 26

Club efforts in 2017: After years of loan moves, the 26-year-old finally cemented his role at Stamford Bridge - so much so that he became an integral member of their Premier League-winning team.

As well as winning the Premier League, Moses also received an FA Cup runners-up medal after Chelsea lost to Arsenal in a final where the Nigerian tinged his successful campaign with a red card.

International efforts in 2017: Moses played only three internationals this year, but in his first he scored in a sensational 4-0 destruction of Cameroon that knocked the African champions out of qualifying and smoothed Nigeria's eventual passage to a third straight World Cup.

Image source, Getty Images

He was the last candidate to be unveiled back in November and he is the first to be named today. Say goodbye to the man from Guinea.

Club: RB Leipzig

Nation: Guinea

Age: 22

Club efforts in 2017: Made the Bundesliga team of the year - an honour bestowed by a public vote - as he helped RB Leipzig to a shock second-place finish.

International efforts in 2017: Keita is primarily on the list for his club exploits because Guinea found the road to the 2018 World Cup in Russia too tough, even if the midfielder did score in qualifiers against Libya and Tunisia.

Here's a reminder of some of the special coverage we've had as part of our celebration of African football for this year's BBC Africa Footballer of the Year award.

There was the story of 10-year-old Jessica Quachie, the Liberian girl dreaming of playing for Real Madrid one day. Her life changed after she was spotted by an academy and has now played international tournament football against boys.

If you cannot get access to see Mimi Fawaz, former Nigeria striker Efan Ekoku and DR Congo international Gabriel Zakuani eliminating the contenders until we are left with a winner - panic not!

There is also a special BBC World Service Facebook Live that you can now follow.......

BBC Sport

Voting for the BBC Africa Footballer of the Year has closed.

All of them have been added up - and we have a winner. The thing is, we don't know who that is yet.

But don't panic - over the next 30 minutes we will find out exactly who is the 2017 BBC African Footballer of the Year.

In case you've been stuck under a rock for the last month or so, the shortlist comprised Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Naby Keita, Sadio Mane, Victor Moses and Mohamed Salah.

It has been eight weeks since a huge bomb exploded in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, killing more than 500 people.

The 14 October attack - the deadliest in Somalia's history - was carried out at a busy junction using a truck packed with explosives.

The Somali government blames Islamist militant group al-Shabab for the bombing.

So what - if anything - has changed in the city since the attack? Osman Hassan from the BBC Somali service explains:

A meeting of experts in Kenya warned last week that marine life is facing "irreparable damage" from the millions of tonnes of plastic waste which ends up in the oceans each year.

"This is a planetary crisis... we are ruining the ecosystem of the ocean," UN oceans chief Lisa Svensson told the BBC ahead of the meeting in Nairobi.

But just how bad is the problem? The BBC science desk has broken it down into handy graphs to give you a quick, at-a-glance idea - and it isn't good.

Take this chart showing how long your coffee cup (and worse, fishing line) will take to naturally degrade:

You can see more graphs, and read our full report on the plastic pollution problem by clicking here.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC Africa, Abuja

Two protests have been held in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, to show support for the police's embattled Special Anti-Robbery Squad (Sars).

It was intended to rival a demonstration to demand the disbandment of the squad, which is accused of extra-judicial killings and corruption.

The pro-Sars protesters - who rallied at the police headquarters and Eagle Square - said it played a vital role in combating kidnappings and robberies.

However, they supported the police chief's efforts to reform the squad, and the removal of "bad eggs" from it.

See earlier post for more details

BBC World Service

Maty Niang is a law student living in Senegal with a slightly unusual passion: the 22-year-old loves the circus.

But while learning skills like the trapeze and aerial silks are gaining popularity in places like the UK, they are little known in Senegal - and some of her family questions whether the hobby is compatible with her religion.

But Maty believes there is no reason why practising her faith as a Muslim, and practising her hobby as a circus performer, have any reason to clash.

Hear her story - and watch her skills - on BBC Minute:

Jose Tembe
BBC Africa, Maputo

China has given Mozambique a $60m (£45m) grant to build an airport in the southern coastal city of Xai Xai.

The airport would improve the mobility of people and goods, and make it easier to respond to natural catastrophes in the remote Gaza province, Mozambique's Foreign Minister Oldemiro Baloi said.

China has also agreed to finance the purchase of 100 commuter buses at a cost of $7.5m. The buses would be assembled by a firm in China after a public tender, China's ambassador to Mozambique, Su Jian, said.

In a further initiative, China has promised to install a satellite television system in 500 Mozambican villages.

Many people in Mozambique are poor and lack basic infrastructure.

But a $200m airport, built three years ago in the north, is hardly used:

Image source, Reuters

A South African official has told a court he fears donkey meat is being fed to unsuspecting customers after being illegally slaughtered, TimesLive reports.

SPCA inspector Mishack Matlou revealed 300 donkeys have been slaughtered in areas north of Pretoria in the last two years - sometimes hacked to death with machetes.

Recently, the remains of 30 donkeys were found in the bush.

According to TimesLive, external, Mr Matlou explained:

Some of these customers, he added, had no idea what they were eating - having been sold "game" by street vendors.

Mr Matlou was giving evidence as three men appeared at Ga-rankuwa Magistrate’s Court on a charge of livestock theft.

They were allegedly caught with bucketfuls of fresh meat in a Citigolf after being stopped by a off-duty police officer on 29 November, RekordNorth reported, external.

One of the defendants was remanded in custody, while the other two were released on bail.

Image source, AFP

Russia's transport minister has said Moscow is ready to resume direct flights to Egypt, more than two years after a Russian passenger plane crashed as it left Sharm el-Sheikh airport.

Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov told reporters the paperwork could be signed as early as this week, with flights between Cairo and Moscow beginning in February, news agency Reuters reported.

The announcement came after Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Egyptian counterpart, Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, in Cairo on Monday.

Flights were suspended between the two countries after a passenger plane bound for St Petersburg crashed in October 2015, killing all 224 people on board.

The Islamic State group said it was responsible for planting a bomb on the flight.

Image source, Science Photo Library

A pregnant woman has died of listeria in South Africa's capital, Pretoria, health officials have said.

She is the 37th person to die of the food-borne disease in South Africa in the last 11 months.

A total of 557 cases have been detected this year.

The disease mainly affects newborns, pregnant women, and people with weak immune systems.

The bacteria is found in soil, water and vegetation, and contaminates food sources such as animal products and fresh produce.