Rwanda's President Paul Kagame has denied ever meeting Nelson Chamisa after the leader of Zimbabwe's opposition claimed he advised him on how to "turn around" the East African country.

Mr Chamisa also said he helped set up Rwanda's Information Communication and Technology (ICT) policy when he was a minister in Zimbabwe's coalition government (2009 -2013).

“I helped him on his ICT policy, on how to turn around the country when we met in Geneva, Switzerland and he was happy with my presentation," Mr Chamisa boasted at a weekend rally, according to The New Zimbabwe news site, external.

But when news of the claim reached Mr Kagame, he pointed out his country's ICT policy was in place before Zimbabwe's opposition party MDC, which Mr Chamisa leads, was formed.

However, Mr Chamisa refused to take the rebuttal lying down. He tweeted back at Mr Kagame with a picture of the two of them shaking hands:

Mr Chamisa has been accused of making controversial statements during campaigns for the forthcoming general election set for 30 July.

He was recently taken to task while appearing on the BBC’s HARDtalk programme for claiming to have met US President Donald Trump, who pledged a $15bn (£11bn) bailout for the country if the opposition wins the election.

The US State Department denied the claims saying it will work with the government elected by Zimbabweans in free and fair elections.

Mr Chamisa was also widely criticised for saying that he would offer his sister to President Emmerson Mnangagwa if he beats him in the general elections.

People have been using the hashtag #ChamisaChallenge to mock him over his recent controversy.

This tweeter, for example, has shared a photoshoped image of Mr Chamisa into April's historic meeting between the leaders of North Korea and South Korea:

Ghana beat World Cup-bound Japan 2-0 in a friendly today, with goals from two Spain-based players.

Atletico Madrid's Thomas Partey scored with a free-kick, while Levante's Emmanuel Boateng converted a second-half penalty in Yokohama.

Japan will be playing Senegal on 24 June in Group H of the World Cup in Russia.

Ghana failed to reach a fourth straight World Cup finals.

Image source, AFP

Faustin Touadéra, president of the Central African Republic (CAR), recently made his second trip to Russia since October 2017.

The two countries have been building relations, with Russia providing military support to its African ally – but what is Moscow getting in return?

The BBC's Africa security correspondent Tomi Oladipo explains:

Ishaq Khalid
BBC Africa, Abuja

Image source, ONYEMAECHI SAMUEL

Reports from south-eastern Nigeria say businesses have closed in several cities as separatists mark the 51st anniversary of the abortive declaration of the breakaway state of Biafra.

The streets are empty and shops and banks are closed in several cities - including Nnewi, Onitsha, Aba and Umuhia - after the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) group urged people to stay at home today.

The police and the military are, however, patrolling the streets.

Ipob's roots can be traced to the independence declaration of Biafra on 30 May 1967 which led to the Nigerian civil war in which more than one million people were killed.

The Igbo often complain of marginalisation and many of them have supported secession.

Nigerian authorities have labelled Ipob a terrorist organisation.

Its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is facing treason-related charges.

He has not been seen in public since September when his house was raided by the Nigerian military. The military denies arresting him.

Image source, EMMANUEL IZUCHKWU

Princess Abumere
BBC News

A planned increase to Nigeria's minimum wage will not happen this September.

Chris Ngige, Nigeria's minister of labour and employment, said his committee - established to look into the issue in 2017 - will only conclude its work in September.

After that, he explained, it will have to go to the government "for deliberation and approval", at which point an executive bill will be sent to the National Assembly.

Yakubu Dogara, the House of Representatives' speaker, has previously said he would ensure the bill got a speedy passage once approved.

Nigeria's minimum wage - currently set at 18,000 naira ($50; £37) a month - has not risen since 2011.

Meanwhile, South Africa has just set its first minimum wage at $1.59 an hour, or $278 a month.

This endorsement from the country’s parliament has been met with negative reactions from some quarters, however.

• Read our earlier story here.

Dickens Olewe
BBC Africa

Tough new data protection laws came into effect last week in the European Union (EU).

Known as GDPR, they give European residents greater control over personal information held by companies, and impose hefty fines for those that mishandle people's data.

But how will these rules affect Africa?

I spoke to Nnenna Nwakanma, Web Foundation’s senior policy manager for Africa, on what Africa can learn from the EU data protection laws and digital rights on the continent - and how African businesses are going to be affected by the new regulation.

Listen:

Watch: For more about General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) online data rules

Kennedy Gondwe
BBC News, Lusaka

Image source, Chiluba Jr

The son of former Zambian President Frederick Chiluba has appealed after he was sentenced to eight months' hard labour for stealing a mobile phone.

Frederick Chiluba Jr was sentenced two weeks ago after being found guilty of stealing a Samsung S7 edge, valued at $843 (£626).

The Lusaka Magistrate court heard how Chiluba Jr stole the device from a woman, Brenda Chisha, on 2 September 2017 before trading it for drugs in a notorious slum in Zambia's capital, Lusaka.

But Mr. Chiluba, 32, a retired officer in the Zambia Air Force, has filed a notice of appeal in the High Court.

He has also applied for bail pending appeal.

“If bail is not granted, I am going to suffer prejudice and injustice as there is a possibility of serving the substantial part of the sentence before the appeal is heard, thereby rendering my appeal an academic exercise and of no purpose,” he said.

But public prosecutor Cyprian Phiri objected to the application for bail, arguing that there were no exceptional circumstances.

He said he prosecution had not seen any ground which would merit a successful appeal.

The court will make a decision on Friday.

Chiluba Snr ruled Zambia from 1991 to 2001. He was dogged by corruption allegations, leading to his immunity from prosecution being lifted after he left office.

He was prosecuted for alleged embezzlement in 2002 but acquitted after a six-year trial.

In 2007, he was convicted of fraud by a London court and ordered to repay $58m (£36m) in embezzled funds, but the ruling was never enforced in Zambia.

Darod Farah
BBC Monitoring

Image source, AFP

A Somali military court has today sentenced three men to death by firing squad for the October 2017 attack in which 20 people were killed, Somali-based Goobjoog website reports.

The men were said to have been part of a group of fighters who carried out an attack on Nasa Hablod Two hotel in the capital Mogadishu on 28 October 2017.

The court said that the men were part of the extremist militant group, al-Shabab, which are a threat to the government.

Judge Hassan Ali Noor Shute said the three men - Farhan Mohamed Samatar, Abdinasir Daqane Hassan and Abshir Mohamed Hajji Bule - pleaded guilty before the first division military court of the Somali National Army.

The judge sentenced the three men to death by a firing squad. However, the case is still open for appeal.

The attack on Nasa Hoblod Two hotel claimed the lives of 20 people and left 40 others injured.

Nomsa Maseko
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

Image source, AFP

A South African trade union has accused the government of "legitimising poverty" after the country set its first-ever minimum wage.

South Africa Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) said it is outraged and disgusted - but not surprised - by the passing of the minimum wage bill, which was overwhelmingly endorsed by parliament on Tuesday.

The bill sets the wage at a minimum of 20 rand ($1.59; £1.20) an hour, which, for a 40-hour week, sets the wage at about $278 per month.

The union said parliament missed an opportunity to free workers from the oppressive wage gap.

In 2016, a commission led by President Cyril Ramaphosa - who was deputy president at the time - found almost 50% of employed South Africans earned less than the proposed national minimum wage.

The government said it hoped the new guideline would improve the lives of the lowest-paid workers in the labour market and alleviate poverty and inequality.

The wage bill will cover about 75% of farm workers and domestic workers.

The other trade union federation Cosatu, which has formed an alliance with the government, has endorsed the proposal.

The bill will have to be sent to parliament’s upper house before it can be signed into law by President Ramaphosa.

A top Kenyan official facing corruption charges over the theft of $78m (£59m) at an agency set up to help address youth unemployment has been rushed to hospital after she fainted in a women's prison.

Principal secretary of the youth ministry, Lilian Omollo, is among 40 civil servants facing charges for the scandal that has rocked the National Youth Service.

The missing funds were allegedly stolen in a scheme involving senior government officials and ghost suppliers.

Kenya's chief prosecutor Noordin Mohamed Haji told a news conference on Monday that he would examine the alleged role of banks in the scandal.

The probe is seen as a blow against President Uhuru Kenyatta's pledge to stamp out corruption, which he made when first elected in 2013.

One person has died and four women have been left injured - one seriously - after a South African train was allegedly set ablaze this morning.

Pictures of the train burning on the tracks in Cape Town have been widely shared on social media.

Cape Town Fire and Rescue Service press officer Theo Layne told the BBC emergency services were on the scene at 09:00 local time (07:00 GMT).

The fire destroyed two carriages, and left the body of the deceased so badly burnt it was impossible to tell whether they were a man or woman, he said.

Arson is suspected, Mr Layne added.

This is the second time in a month a Cape Town train has caught fire. No one is believed to have been hurt in that incident.

A human rights group has called for the safe release of a headteacher allegedly kidnapped by Cameroonian separatists at the weekend.

Human Rights Watch says Georgiana Enanga Sanga was taken on 25 May, along with another headteacher working in the country's Southwest province.

According to reports, the taxi she was travelling in was hijacked as it approached the school, which was preparing for exams.

But while her colleague has been released with machete wounds, Ms Sanga, of Government High School Bolifamba Mile 16-Buea, has not been seen since.

It is thought the kidnappers are anglophone separatists, who have been calling for parents to stop sending their children to school as a way to put additional pressure on the French-speaking majority government.

But HRW says the group should leave teachers and education alone.

“Enanga’s kidnappers should release her immediately, and separatist groups should put a decisive end to all attacks meant to obstruct children’s education,” said Philippe Bolopio, the group's deputy director of global advocacy.

“Attacks against students, teachers, and schools inflict long-term harm on children, and sully the reputation of those who carry them out.”

Secessionists in the Anglophone North West and South West regions have been calling for the creation of an independent state called Ambazonia.

A High Court judge in Kenya on Tuesday suspended sections of a controversial new law which had been contested by bloggers and rights groups who argued it would limit freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

The Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act was signed into law earlier this month by President Uhuru Kenyatta and was due to come into effect on Wednesday, but the court ruled that large sections should be suspended until the case is heard in July.

In neighbouring Tanzania, there was a setback for rights activists as they failed in their attempt to block a new law requiring bloggers to pay over nine hundred dollars for a licence.

The High Court ruled that the petitioners had not shown how they were directly affected by the legislation.

The Media Council of Tanzania says it will go back to court and challenge the law again.

Read: Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in 'anti-fake news campaign'

Image source, AFP

Zimbabwe's president has announced the country will hold its national elections on 30 July.

Emmerson Mnangagwa made the official announcement on Wednesday morning.

It will be the first time in decades former leader Robert Mugabe is not standing for president.

Yesterday, Mr Mnanagagwa - who took power after Mr Mugabe was ousted in November last year - reitterated his commitment to "free and fair elections":

At least 30 people have died in a road accident in Eritrea after a bus careered off a steep hillside and rolled for almost one hundred metres, BBC Tigrinya service reports.

The accident happened on Monday on a narrow, winding and steep road at Shindwa, 50km ( 31 miles) north of the capital Asmara.

The victims were on an annual pilgrimage to a monastery called St Mary of Debre Sina.

Our African proverb of the day:

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

Welcome back to BBC Africa Live, where we'll be bringing you the latest news and views from around the continent.

BBC Africa Live
Tara John & Farouk Chothia

That's all from the Africa Live page for 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 today's wise words:

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

And we leave you with this picture from Cairo, taken by Manar Gad Timounna:

Rana Jawad
BBC North Africa correspondent, Tunis

Image source, EPA

French President Emmanuel Macron has walked away with one real achievement today - bringing together key rival Libyan blocs, as well as regional neighbours seen as exacerbating the conflict, like Egypt, Qatar and Turkey.

However, nothing was actually signed in Paris. Instead, Libya’s rival representatives verbally agreed to a set of promises and dates – and diplomats tell me it “wasn’t easy” to get them to do that.

There is a worry that giving the four big Libyan personalities a platform in Paris will only harden the views of other factions in Libya, triggering more divisions among the militias who nominally ally themselves to rival political institutions.

Image source, AFP

Invited representatives from the key western city of Misrata chose to stay away from the talks. Various militias from the west also said the talks do not represent them.

The success of today’s agreement will rely on whether the rival armed groups allow the elections to take place and then respect the results. The last parliamentary election in 2014 plunged the country into a deeper crisis.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Media in Egypt say the chairman of the state Food Industries Holding Company (FIHC) has been arrested on suspicion of taking bribes from suppliers.

Three other senior officials, from the FIHC and from the Ministry of Supply, have also been detained.

The FIHC oversees purchases of key commodities in Egypt.

The payments were allegedly given in return for help in facilitating purchase orders.

The trading companies involved have not been named.