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That's all from BBC Africa Live this week. You can 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 Friday's proverb:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photograph of Aswan as a dust-storm blankets the Egyptian city. It is from our selection of the best pictures of the week.

Image source, EPA

Chris Ewokor
BBC Africa, Abuja

Hundreds of supporters of the detained Nigerian Shia cleric, Sheikh Ibrahim Elzakzaky, have taken to the streets of the capital, Abuja to mark his 1000th day in detention and to push for his release.

The pro-Iranian Shia sect leader has been in detention since 2015; facing charges of homicide against army personnel. The charges are punishable by death.

The reportedly ailing cleric has denied the charges.

Nigerian officials accuse the group of wanting to foment an Iranian-style revolution and of being a "state within a state" - accusations the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) denies.

Zawadi Mudibo
BBC Africa

Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh says his country is ready for reconciliation and normalisation of ties with Eritrea after meeting the foreign ministers of Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia.

Eritrea and Djibouti have had a decade long border conflict over Ras Doumeira island, which Djibouti claims is being illegally occupied by Eritrea.

In July, Djibouti petitioned the United Nation’s security council, asking the body to "facilitate an agreement between them upon a mutually acceptable means of peaceful dispute settlement".

The resolution of the Ras Doumeira conflict could secure the lifting of UN sanctions on Eritrea for the first time since 2009.

Qatar had presided over mediation efforts maintaining a military buffer presence for much of the past decade, but withdrew its peacekeeping contingent from Ras Doumeira at the height of the Gulf Cooperation Council crisis.

Shingai Nyoka
BBC Africa, Harare

Image source, Getty Images

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa has unveiled a 20-member cabinet following his victory in the 30 July elections.

It’s a leaner cabinet - down from 33 to 20 ministers. There are no opposition members in the new team which has eight new faces.

Former banker and African Development Bank vice-president Mthuli Ncube will lead the finance ministry.

Kirsty Coventry, the former swimming world champion, will head the sports and arts ministry.

Mr Mnangagwa also appointed the chairperson of the ruling Zanu-PF party - Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri - as defence minister, taking away a key security portfolio from Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, the retired general who led the coup against Mugabe.

Other key figures from the military who held on to their cabinet roles are Sibusiso Moyo as foreign minister, and Perence Shiri as agriculture minister.

Critics say there is still too much "old blood" in this cabinet because many of the old ministers remain.

Others said that President Mnangagwa had a delicate balancing act of pragmatism versus outright change.

Installing huge numbers of solar panels and wind turbines in the Sahara desert would have a major impact on rainfall, vegetation and temperatures, researchers say.

They found that the actions of wind turbines would double the amount of rain that would fall in the region.

Solar panels have a similar impact although they act in a different way.

The authors say their work reinforces the view that large-scale renewables could transform the Sahara region.

The scientists modelled what would happen if nine million sq km of the Sahara desert was covered in renewable energy sources.

Previous studies have shown that installing wind and solar can have an impact on temperatures - but the key difference with this research is the impact on vegetation.

Read the full article on the BBC webiste

Image source, YAN LI/EVIATAR BACH

A video of a woman disrupting a meeting attended by Uganda's finance minister has been widely shared on Twitter.

Identified as Nalongo Nana, a businesswoman in the capital, Kampala, she was recorded grabbing a microphone and berating the attendees who were discussing the country's tax policy.

She was especially irked after Fred Bamwine, a representative of President Yoweri Museveni at the meeting, said that leaders were supposed to be taken care of by the citizens and not the other way round, Daily Monitor reports. , external

“Do you people think that we have no feelings. Are we not human beings?” she said.

“I came here after watching somebody who is a leader saying that we are supposed to take care of them. So who will take care of us?”

Many people approved of a tweet praising Ms Nana's antics as depicting growing courage among Ugandans to confront state officials.

Ms Nana addressed the room for 7-10 minutes before handing back the microphone and leaving the room, according to the Daily Monitor.

Finance Minister David Bahati later apologised on behalf of Mr Bamwine:

“He should withdraw that statement because that is not how it is supposed to be. Leaders are supposed to serve and not the other way round.”

Chinedu Michael Okechukwu, a 16-year-old from Ebonyi State in south-east Nigeria, dreams of being a world-famous classical singer.

Despite being teased about it by his friends, he's determined to sing his way to the top

Watch his story below:

BBC World Service

Aid groups say violence has forced about 50,000 people from their homes in northern and central Mali so far this year, significantly more than the same period last year.

The Norwegian Refugee Council said there was a growing number of armed groups in the region, as well as communal clashes and ongoing military operations against Islamist militants.

The United Nations says more than five million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Mali, more than at any time since conflict broke out six years ago.

Rana Jawad
BBC North Africa correspondent, Tunis

Image source, Getty Images

Tripoli’s only functioning airport has re-opened following its one-week closure due to militia fighting in the Libyan capital.

The move comes after a UN-brokered ceasefire between rival factions was announced late on Tuesday.

More than 60 people died in the clashes, and over 100 were injured.

A fragile ceasefire is still holding, which encouraged airport officials to re-start operations. Libya’s transport minister said “flights will gradually resume”.

Afriquiyah Airlines, which has had many of its planes damaged by stray ammunition in sporadic violence over the years, says it will resume its flights on Saturday.

Over a week of fierce fighting between rival groups in parts of Tripoli saw stray ground-missiles land near the airport and on private property, which led to the airport’s closure.

As residents of the capital count the human and material cost of the recent violence, the city also saw a 24-hour blackout on Thursday, which is a stark increase from the usual daily average of eight hour power-cuts, according to residents there.

The state’s electricity company said the power was affected because of the violence. Water supplies from the main pipelines are also cut off in the city.

BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

The authorities in France have detained a man suspected of being a militant commander during Liberia's first civil war, in the 1990s.

The man - who police identified as a naturalised Dutch citizen, Kunti K - has been charged with crimes against humanity.

He is said to have fought for the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (Ulimo), and is suspected of torture, murder, slavery, the use of child soldiers and cannibalism.

Around 250,000 people were killed in Liberia's civil war in the 1990s and many thousands more fled the fighting.

Read: Liberian church massacre survivors seek US justice

Uganda's Ethics Minister Simon Lokodo has said the devil had beaten him after his failed attempt to ban this year's Nyege Nyege music festival, which he alleged promoted open sex, gay relations and drug abuse, privately owned Daily Monitor reports, external.

"I tried my best to block it, but the devil has a strong hand. I had to backtrack.”

He had announced on Tuesday that the annual event would be banned but hours later he was overruled by Interior Minister Jeje Odong.

The government later gave the event, which started on Thursday, the go-ahead.

The festival has been taking place annually since 2015 on the banks of the River Nile in eastern Uganda, and is popular with young people from urban areas.

Artists from the US, Europe and other parts of Africa have been lined up to perform at the four-day festival, whose sponsors include the British Council, South African telecom giant MTN and Coca-Cola.

Organisers expect to draw 8,000 people, up from 6,000 last year, the Daily Monitor reports.

Mr Lokodo, a former priest who is known to promote conservative social values, said on Tuesday that the event was "close to devil worshiping and not acceptable".

"This thing [Nyege Nyege] is not the best at all. I have dug into it and established that it’s not innocent. It’s an instrument being used by our brothers and sisters of Western world to introduce to us a culture, a behaviour and attitude that is foreign and not in our laws, culture and religion," he told the Daily Monitor.

Event organisers have been sharing the festival highlights on Instagram.

Image source, Getty Images

A preliminary report has found that Ethiopian engineer Simegnew Bekele - who was in charge of the country's $4.7bn (£3.1bn) hydroelectric dam project - took his own life, state linked Fana Broadcasting Corporate reports., external

“His death was a suicide," police said in a press conference.

His body was found in a car parked at Meskel Square in the city centre in the capital, Addis Ababa, on 26 July.

A hand gun was found in his car.

News of his death sparked a furore among the public amid fears that he had been assassinated.

Police said further investigation into the cause of his death will continue.

Engineer Simegnew had been manager of Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD) since the launch of the project in 2011.

The dam, which is being built in the Benishangul-Gumuz region bordering Sudan, will eventually have a 6,000 megawatt capacity, according to the Ethiopian government. This is the equivalent of at least six nuclear power plants.

It is part of a $12bn investment project to boost power exports.

It will use water from the Blue Nile - one of two major tributaries of the Nile.

Egypt opposes the dam saying it violates a colonial-era agreement, which gives them rights to 90% of the Nile's water.

Read: Why Ethiopia is grieving for 'hero' dam engineer Simegnew Bekele

BBC World Service

Health authorities in Zimbabwe have confirmed that an outbreak of cholera in the capital, Harare has claimed the life of at least one person.

Four other deaths are being investigated. More than 30 people have been treated in hospital with symptoms including vomiting and diarrhoea which are typical of cholera.

Officials are trying to find the source of the outbreak, which is currently limited to two suburbs.

Ten years ago almost 100,000 people were infected with cholera in Zimbabwe and at least 4,000 people died in the outbreak.

A South African business leader has been sacked following outrage over his views in an article which questioned whether women were suited for high-profile careers, news site Fin24 reports., external

South African Institution of Civil Engineering (Saice) said it had terminated Manglin Pillay’s position as CEO with immediate effect.

Saice president Errol Kerst said in a statement on Thursday that the board had spent many hours “carefully deliberating the matter” after receiving “numerous responses” from concerned members about Mr Pillay.

In the group's magazine in July Mr Pillay wrote in a column that women were better suited to "more important enterprises, like family and raising children, [rather] than to be at the beck and call of shareholders".

He wondered whether there should be investment in attracting women to the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.

Saice had initially accepted Mr Pillay's apology and promise to undergo diversity training.

However, Mr Kerst said on Thursday that it would have been remiss of Saice not to take the views of its members seriously.

Campaigners have been celebrating Mr Pillay’s sacking on Twitter:

Image source, Reuters

Zimbabwe's former President Robert Mugabe has said that he accepts the election victory of his successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa, IOL news site reports., external

“Mnangagwa won. It’s now constitutional... It was an election and his victory cannot be disputed. We now leave behind us the transgressions of yesterday.” Mugabe told mourners on Thursday at his mother in-law's funeral ceremony in the capital, Harare.

The 94-year-old leader, who was ousted by the military in November 2017 after more than three decades in power, had backed main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa for the 30 July election.

In a surprise press conference on the eve of the election, he slammed the military takeover and said that he was being mistreated by the government.

“But that is now in the past and everyone must dialogue and unite. We are now in a new era. Let us work together for our country," Mr Mugabe said on Thursday.

Mr Mugabe did not attend Mr Mnangagwa's swearing-in ceremony on 26 August but sent his daughter to represent him.

The former leader also revealed that he had wanted former defence minister Sidney Sekeramayi to take over from him.

“Those who staged the coup knew that Sekeramayi was my preferred successor,” Mr Mugabe said.

His wife, Grace, who has had a contentious relationship with President Mnangagwa, thanked her political nemesis at the event for facilitating her travel from Singapore after her mother died.

“I want to thank Mnangagwa for chartering a new plane to bring me home to mourn my mother. It was a beautiful plane, a brand new Gulf Stream from Qatar,” Mrs Mugabe said, adding that she felt comforted.

“Mnangagwa comforted me. If it takes my mother’s death for us to have the friendship we once had, then let it be," she added.

Mrs Mugabe's ambition to succeed her husband and her rivalry with Mr Mnangagwa is what resulted in the unprecedented intervention by the army leading to the removal of Mr Mugabe from office.

Friday's African proverb:

Image source, AFP

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

Welcome to the BBC Africa Live page where we'll be keeping you up-to-date with news on the continent.

That's all from BBC Africa Live today. You can 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 Thursday's proverb:

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

And we leave you with this picture taken by documentary photographer Yagazie Emezi at a moringa farm in Uganda:

Italy has been urged to release six Tunisian fishermen who were arrested at sea on suspicion of smuggling migrants.

Supporters of the fishermen, from the south-east coastal town of Zarzis, say their colleagues were simply aiding a boat in distress.

The boat, carrying 14 people, was trying to reach the Italian island of Lampedusa last week.

One of the arrested fishermen is Chamseddine Bourassine, president of the Association of Fishermen in Zarzis.

He is a local legend in the town, reports the BBC's Rana Jawad in Tunis.

Read more from BBC News

Tomi Oladipo
BBC Africa security correspondent

A military court in South Sudan has sentenced 10 soldiers to jail terms ranging from seven years to life for a rampage in which a journalist was killed and foreign aid workers raped.

South Sudan's government will use this trial to claim that it is tackling abuses carried out by soldiers.

But this was a high-profile case and it is difficult to see soldiers being put on trial for atrocities committed against locals.

The military top brass on both sides of the conflict seem to be struggling to rein in their troops.

The UN and human rights groups have repeatedly accused them of committing war crimes.

In 2015, the African Union called for a special court to be set up to try war crimes suspects. However, this has not yet happened.

Meanwhile, humanitarian groups continue to complain of the security risk. About 100 aid workers, mostly locals, have been killed in the civil war.

This makes it more difficult to get food and medicine to the millions of people affected by the conflict.

Listen to an in-depth documentary about the 2016 attack: