Africa highlights: Monday 29 January 2018, as it happened

Summary

Rihanna praised for gwara gwara dance
Sierra Leoneans bring court action against mining firm in London
Zambia to regulate internet use
Kenya blaze kills four and leaves thousands homeless
Kenya's tourism minister criticises shisha ban
China dismisses allegations that it spied on AU as "preposterous"
Lone presidential challenger for Sisi in Egypt
BBC launches radio services for Ethiopia and Eritrea
Uganda's Red Pepper tabloid back on sale

Live Reporting

Dickens Olewe and Farouk Chothia

African leaders to discuss Nile disputepublished at 11:44 Greenwich Mean Time 29 January 2018
BBC World Service
The leaders of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan are due to hold talks later today on a controversial hydroelectric dam Ethiopia is building along the Nile river.
The presidents of Egypt and Sudan, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Omar al-Bashir, will meet Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in an attempt to end months of deadlock in negotiations.
Egypt, which is entirely dependent on the Nile for its water supply, fears that the dam project would reduce the amount it receives.
Ethiopia denies that the $4bn (£2.9bn) project could have such an impact.
The meeting is taking place on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Addis Ababa.
Read: Death of the Nile
Rihanna's South African dance move excites fanspublished at 11:22 Greenwich Mean Time 29 January 2018
Image source, AFP
Rihanna's performance at the Grammy Awards last night drew particular praise from South Africans after she did the popular gwara gwara dance.
The dance move was made popular by South African DJ Bongz, the local TimesLive news site reports., external
It quotes him as saying:
Quote Message
"I created the dance from scratch and it feels so special to have it shown on an international stage like the Grammys. It shows that Africa can make a big impact on international dance."
Here's a short video of the dance move:
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And South African jazz legend Hugh Masekela, who died last week, was honoured at the ceremony:
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See our earlier post about Ladysmith Black Mambazo winning an award.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 'close' to join Arsenalpublished at 11:00 Greenwich Mean Time 29 January 2018
Arsenal are close to an agreement to sign Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Borussia Dortmund for about £60m ($85m).
But the transfer will not be sanctioned until Dortmund have a replacement lined up, with Arsenal's Olivier Giroud among the reported options.
Arsenal have already had two bids for the 28-year-old rejected by Dortmund.
Aubameyang featured in Saturday's 2-2 draw with Freiburg -his first start for the German club since 16 December.
Dortmund have said they are prepared to sell him if "certain parameters are fully met".
Read the full story on the BBC website.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, second right, has scored 21 goals in 24 games for Dortmund this season
'Water for protesters but no water for fires'published at 10:29 Greenwich Mean Time 29 January 2018
Kenyans have taken to Twitter to criticise authorities in the capital, Nairobi, for what they say was their ineffective response to last night's fire that gutted an informal settlement, killing at least three people and leaving 6,000 homeless.
Reports that firefighters did not have enough water to put out the fire has especially riled many.
A picture of a resident trying to put out last night's fire with a bucket, alongside an archive photo of a police van shooting water canons at opposition protesters, have been shared by several people on Twitter.
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Another picture that has been widely shared on Twitter is that of President Uhuru Kenyatta flagging off newly acquired fire engines just four months ago:
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See our earlier post for more details
Kenya's tourism minister 'criticises' shisha banpublished at 10:06 Greenwich Mean Time 29 January 2018
A Kenyan minister has criticised the government's ban on the smoking of water-pipe tobacco, commonly known as shisha, in public places.
Tourism Minister Najib Balala is quoted as saying that the move was "miscalculated", and will harm the economy, Kenya's privately owned Daily Nation newspaper has tweeted.
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Kenya's health ministry announced the ban in December, citing health concerns.
The ministry said that violators of the ban would be held liable for a minimum fine of $490 ( £346) or imprisonment of up to six months.
Mr Balala condemned the National Environment Agency for shutting clubs, where shisha is smoked, rather than "regulating issues", the Daily Nation reported.
It quoted him as saying:
Quote Message
You do your job, we will support; but you don’t wake up overnight and ban shisha or start closing clubs. The whole world has shisha, why ban it in Kenya? If we have issues of health, put a tax.
Quote Message
Why don’t you ban cigarettes? Why don’t you ban alcohol? I am not a smoker so I am not defending shisha smokers.”
According to the World Health Organization, the volume of smoke inhaled in an hour-long shisha session is estimated to be the equivalent of smoking 100 cigarettes.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo wins Grammypublished at 09:06 Greenwich Mean Time 29 January 2018
South African band Ladysmith Black Mambazo won the best world music award at last night's Grammy Awards ceremony in New York.
It's the fifth award for the all-male group that has popularised the Zulu style of harmony-driven singing, known as isicathamiya.
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The album that won them the award is Shaka Zulu Revisited: 30th Anniversary Collection.
It is a tribute to the founding members of the choral group which has since been succeeded by younger members.
The South African government tweeted its congratulations.
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Deadly fire rages through Kenya settlementpublished at 08:55 Greenwich Mean Time 29 January 2018
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
The fire is said to have raged for almost 12 hours
At least three people have been killed and about 6,000 people left homeless after a huge fire swept through an informal settlement in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, last night, local media reports.
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
The blaze was contained early this morning
Fire engines were quick on the scene, but did not have water to battle the flames in the settlement in the Lang'ata area, constituency MP Nixon Korir said.
His comments were tweeted by Kenya's leading private television station, KTN News:
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The television station reports that residents were forced to use sewage water to extinguish the fire:
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At least 6,000 people have been forced to take shelter at a school, after homes and shops were destroyed, the privately owned Standard newspaper reports, external.
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
The cause of the fire is still unclear
Today's wise wordspublished at 08:53 Greenwich Mean Time 29 January 2018
Our African proverb for the day:
Quote Message
Demands are for what you bought, but you cannot demand more of something that has been given to you."
Sent by Khuliso Makhavhu in Mudimeli, South Africa
Click here and scroll to the bottom to send us your African proverbs.
Good morningpublished at 08:53 Greenwich Mean Time 29 January 2018
Welcome to BBC Africa Live where we will bring you the latest news and views from around the continent.