Stephanie Hegarty
BBC Africa, Lagos

Image source, AFP

In the past four years, the import of arms by African countries has dropped by 22%, according to a report on the global arms industry by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

But in Nigeria arms imports rose by 42% in the same time period.

The overstretched Nigerian military is facing three separate security crises - the war against Islamist militants Boko Haram in the north, intercommunal clashes between Fulani herdsmen and farming communities all across its middle belt and the threat of militancy in the oil-producing south.

The report looked at the biggest exporters and importers around the world.

The US came out on top as the world's biggest exporter while India, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are the top importers.

Only three African countries - Algeria, Morocco and Egypt - appear on the list of top 40 arms importers.

Image source, AFP

Uganda's prestigious Makerere University has responded to students' complaints of sexual harassment by forming an investigation committee.

In January, a report released by an independent committee mandated by Uganda's president said that over 50% of female and about 40% of male students interviewed called sexual harassment a major cause of discontent on Makarere's campus.

The new team of five professors, which is to investigate all complaints by students and those brought by the general public, should have a report of their findings ready in two months.

Sylvia Tamale, who has been picked to lead the committee, is an outspoken women’s rights advocate, academic and the first ever female dean of the School of Law.

The announcement has been made at a press conference which is also being live tweeted:

One student who says a lecturer attempted to rape her told the BBC that university officials insulted her and "called her stupid" after she reported the attack.

She was left disappointed when the university senate committee formed to investigate her case concluded that there had been "an environment of sexual harassment", but told her nonetheless to return to class and be taught by her alleged attacker.

The student turned down the offer and never resumed her studies, saying it was "unjust" to return her to that "hostile environment" without any punitive action for the teacher.

Makere University says it has sacked five lecturers since 2006 for sexual harassment, and hopes the new committee with "completely deal with" the problem.

Alastair Leithead
BBC Africa correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Three African countries that are home to the bulk of the continent’s elephants have signed a petition asking Britain and the rest of the EU to ban the legal trade in antique ivory.

At a wildlife summit in Botswana, the country’s president Ian Khama said a complete trade ban would help protect the remaining elephants.

He and the presidents of Uganda and Gabon have put their names to a global petition calling for the end of legal trade – such as that involving antique ivory.

He criticised the US president Donald Trump for lifting a ban on hunting trophies saying he was “encouraging poaching”.

Thousands of African elephants continue to be killed by poachers every year despite international efforts to stop the trade in ivory.

Botswana is the last sanctuary for the animals – half of Africa’s elephants are found here and just over its borders.

Many conservationists believe that the only way to save the last remaining elephants in Africa is to stop all trade in ivory.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, Getty Images

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo appears to have has fired 18 military generals.

A military source close to Villa Somalia - the presidential palace - has told local media that only four out of the 22 generals in the army, were spared.

Mr Farmajo intends to inject fresh blood into the military ranks as part of his ongoing security reforms.

Mr Farmajo has moved his office to the Ministry of Defence to monitor the changes he is making to the armed forces.

A five-year-old girl has died after falling into a pit toilet at a primary school in South Africa, reports South African news site News 24, external.

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga is quoted as saying: "The death of a child in such an undignified manner is completely unacceptable, and incredibly disturbing."

The site goes on to report that the circumstances around Viwe Jali's death were not immediately clear and police in Eastern Cape are investigating it.

Another five-year-old fell to his death in South Africa not long ago.

In 2014, another five-year-old Michael Komape drowned in a pit latrine at a South African primary school. His parents went on to sue the previous basic education minister.

Image source, Kirsten Whitefield

Image source, Getty Images

A flight attendant who fell from the emergency door of a parked aeroplane in Uganda's Entebbe airport on Wednesday has died, AFP reports.

The woman died before the ambulance carrying her reached Kisubi hospital 16km (10 miles) away, AFP quotes hospital spokesman Francis Sekandi as saying.

"We received her from the Civil Aviation Authority in an ambulance, but she was already dead," he said.

Uganda's Civil Aviation Authority said an investigation into the incident has been opened, AFP reports.

In a statement it said the Emirates flight attendant "appeared to have opened the emergency door" and unfortunately "fell off an aircraft that had safely landed and parked".

Uganda's Daily Monitor newspaper has also quoted unnamed sources as saying the woman appeared to have jumped intentionally from the plane.

AFP quotes a statement from Emirates airlines as saying: "A member of our cabin crew unfortunately fell from an open door while preparing the aircraft for boarding".

The Dubai-based airline has promised its "full cooperation" with the investigation.

Our African proverb of the day:

Image source, Getty Images

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

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

That's all from the BBC Africa Live page today. Keep up-to-date with what's happening across the continent by listening to the Africa Today podcast, or checking the BBC News website.

A reminder of Wednesday's wise words:

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

And we leave you with this photo of a man from the Mucubal community in Angola.

Beverly Ochieng
BBC Monitoring

Image source, Reuters

A neck tie belonging to Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s has been snapped after for $15,000 (£10,750) after it made a surprise appearance at an auction in Victoria Falls.

Mr Mnangagwa was speaking as the guest of honour at the Chief Executive Officers Africa Roundtable in the resort town when the director of ceremonies apparently spotted an opportunity.

He asked the politician to remove his tie, which was then promptly bought by Tafadzva Musarara, chairman of the Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe.

Luckily for the smartly-dressed Mr Mnangagwa, he did not have to go without a tie for long.

He was quickly handed two more, one of which was branded with the US flag, said to symbolise Mr Mnangagwa's mantra, "Zimbabwe is open for business".

The state-owned Chronicle newspaper said on its website, external the money would be donated to the local hospital.

President Mnangagwa came into power following a military takeover that ousted long-serving leader Robert Mugabe.

He has been particularly keen on restoring investor confidence in Zimbabwe after decades of economic isolation and mismanagement.

However, it has not impressed the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC-T) Nelson Chamisa, who had been visiting Harare Hospital.

A 17-year-old South African schoolgirl has invented a shack which will not go up into flames if a fire was started inside.

Gabriella Mogale, of the Collegiate Girls' High School in Port Elizabeth, won a gold medal at the 2017 Eskom’s regional Expo for Young Scientists.

According to a post on the competition's Facebook page, she was inspired by the fires which ravaged the seaside town of Knysna last year.

Shack fires are a huge problem in South Africa, so the invention could be truly life-saving.

In an interview, she said: “You never think you would create or do something great until you do it and, having come from a disadvantaged background, I have always wanted to be that person who is going to change the lives of someone who was like me.”

Jonathan Paye-Layleh
BBC Africa, Monrovia

Liberia's Ministry of Health has revealed it is fighting to control an outbreak of Lassa fever which has killed two people since the beginning of March.

A spokesman told the BBC the two confirmed victims were a 57-year old woman and a 44-year-old man.

The two cases happend in the central city of Gbarnga and the capital Monrovia respectively, which are almost 200km (125 miles) apart.

According to the ministry, both had sought treatment at a number of health centres where they were treated for malaria and typhoid.

An official of the ministry, Yatta Wapoe, told the BBC the outbreak seems under control, as all of the 109 suspected cases had tested negative.

They will be officially declared free of the disease by the 25 March.

Image source, AFP

Spread mainly by rats, Lassa Fever has been endemic for years in the parts of Liberia close to the border with Guinea;

The disease’s symptoms include hiccup, abdominal pains, bloody stool and the oozing of blood after injections.

UK police are keeping "an open mind" about whether a fatal attack on an Egyptian student in Nottingham which sparked outrage in her home country was racially motivated.

Mariam Moustafa, 18, died on Wednesday after being attacked by a group in Nottingham on 20 February.

The hashtag "Mariam's rights will not be lost" has been trending in Egypt.

Egypt's prosecutor-general has requested information about the probe into her death by British officials, according to BBC Monitoring.

Nottinghamshire Police said in a statement: "At this time, from our investigation, there is no information to suggest that the assault was motivated by hate but we continue to keep an open mind."

Before Miss Moustafa's death, police arrested a 17-year-old girl on suspicion of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm. She was released on conditional bail.

• Read the full story here.

Image source, afp

A Danish man whose freezer was found to contain women's genitalia has been given two life sentences by a South African court.

Peter Frederiksen was found guilty of rape, production and possession of child pornography in November last year.

He was also convicted of assaulting his wife Anna Matseliso Molise, who was due to testify against her husband before she was fatally shot four times outside her home in Maseru, Lesotho.

The charge of conspiracy to murder was added to Frederiksen's long list of offences for which he was found guilty.

But the charges relating to mutilating women were dropped, due to a loophole in South African law.

The case attracted international attention after police found 21 women's body parts in his freezer in Bloemfontein in 2015.

The BBC's Milton Nkosi reported at the time that they were all neatly labelled in plastic bags with a date, the name of a woman and where she was from.

Sitting in Bloemfontein High Court today, Judge Johann Daffue said he had "never felt so disgusted" as he did after reading Frederiken's diaries and watching videos he owned.

According to local news site OFM, external, Judge Daffue said Frederiksen - who is wanted in his own country on arms charges - needed to be removed from society for the safety of women and children.

Frederiksen's lawyer says they plan to appeal.

Image source, PA

A Zimbabwean woman who said she lost her home and husband in London's Grenfell Tower fire has been found guilty of fraud.

Joyce Msokeri, 47, filled a room at Kensington's Hilton hotel with donations after saying she was a grief-stricken victim of the disaster.

Southwark Crown Court heard data showed the 47-year-old's phone had never been used near the Grenfell site.

Msokeri, who now lives in Sutton, was convicted of three counts of fraud and a charge of possessing a false document.

As well as claiming goods, accommodation and cash handouts, worth a total of £19,000, Msokeri concocted an elaborate ploy to claim insurance on her fictitious partner's death, the court heard.

Read the whole story here.

Two female suicide bombers have been confirmed dead after a failed suicide attack in the city of Maiduguri, Nigeria.

The attack took place on Wednesday evening and injured nine civilians.

Local reports say the women detonated their vests after being denied entry into the area by security personnel.

In a statment Borno State Police said: “Two female suicide bombers in an attempt to infiltrate the Alikaramanti area, after Giwa Barracks, were intercepted by security operatives on duty, but they hurriedly detonated the IED strapped to their bodies, killing themselves and injuring nine others.”

He added “Corpses and injured victims have been evacuated to the hospital and normalcy restored.”

Chris Ewokor
BBC Africa, Abuja

Image source, Reuters

At least two soldiers were killed on Wednesday in renewed violence between herders and farmers in central Nigeria's Plateau state.

The soldiers had been sent to quell the violence between the Miango community and herdsmen at Rafiki village, but came under attack.

Two of them were killed during a fierce battle, while two other soldiers were wounded and rushed to a military hospital in Jos.

Reports indicate that two policemen and some other civilians were also killed, with many wounded and some houses burned to the ground.

This is the second week of clashes in the volatile Plateau state. The Nigerian army in a statement said 23 dead bodies were discovered in Mararaba Dare area after gunmen opened fire.

Seven suspects have been arrested in connection with the clashes. Meanwhile, the Plateau state government has ordered movement restriction and impose dusk to dawn curfew on the area.

Image source, AFP

Cameroon's ageing president has called his first cabinet meeting since 2015.

Paul Biya, who has ruled the country since 1982, has called his council of ministers to Unity Palace, news agency Reuters said.

However, it is not known what they will be talking about at the closed door meetings.

Reuters suggests little discussion is expected, as Mr Biya, 85, has ruled the central African country with zero tolerance for dissent and has ruled virtually by decree since taking power.

It seems relatively likely the cabinet meeting will at least touch on the Anglophone separatist movement in the west, which has left many dead.

However, the last meeting reportedly focused on "accelerat[ing] preparations for the important sports celebrations", which were football compettitions the country was due to host in 2016 and 2019.

Mr Biya has met ministers in the intervening years, Reuters said, although these get-togethers often happened at the airport before he went on holiday.

In February, the Organised Crime and Corruption Project, external released a report which calculated that he had spent some four-and-a-half years outside Cameroon during his tenure as leader.

Everyone who has seen Black Panther knows the real power in Wakanda lies with its women.

But they are not Africa's only comic book heroes.

We've been speaking to Nigerian artists about the women who inspire the superheroes in their comics.

You can meet some of them in the video above.

Thousands of people have reportedly been left stranded in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi after heavy rain in the city.

Civilians were seen trying to shield themselves in bus shelters and makeshift sanctums.

According to local reports, residents have criticised the government for failing to adequately prepare for the weather.

"Year in year out, we complain of flooding whenever there is down pour and this time it’s not any different," a woman told Kenya's Standard newspaper, external.

"The rains were forecasted weeks ago but it seems not enough has been done to avoid flooding,”

Despite all the havoc caused by the weather, some social media users have been wondering why the rainfall has not been harvested for later use.