Welcome back to BBC Africa Live where we'll be keeping you up-to-date with news and trends from across the continent.

BBC Africa Live
Lucy Fleming

That's all from BBC Africa Live for now. 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 Wednesday's wise words:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo of the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, sharing a joke with models wearing designs from Lagos Fashion Week. They are at a reception at St James's Palace in London organised ahead of an upcoming visit to West Africa by the prince and his wife:

Image source, PA

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

Image source, AFP

South Africa's newly appointed Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has promised additional funds to ensure female students have access to sanitary pads.

There have been growing calls for this amid complaints that girls - especially those in poor, rural communities - have been missing out on school because of the high cost of the pads.

In some provinces they are already free for all female students.

To cheers in parliament, he also announced that from next April the 15% tax on sanitary pads would be scrapped.

Bread flour and cake flour were also now going to be exempt from VAT, he said, explaining that he had asked people on social media for their tips ahead of the speech:

Mr Mboweni, who has only been in his job for two weeks, also gave a frank assessment of South Africa’s economy in the mid-term budget speech.

He said the country could not afford to continue borrowing at its current rate and must reduce its national debt, now expected to reach 60% of GDP in the next five years.

He said that the public sector wage bill exceeded its budget by 30bn rand ($2bn, £1,6bn).

Mr Mboweni repeatedly spoke about the cancer of corruption and said that those who were found guilty “must be locked up” in jail.

The speech was free of financial jargon – and he quoted from the Bible and Charles Dickens:

Nigeria’s finance minister has clarified her comments about how the government’s plans to deal with growing population.

Speaking at the annual Nigeria Economic Summit in the capital, Abuja, Zainab Ahmed had said the government had been engaging traditional rulers and religious organisations to tackle the issue (see earlier post).

She has tweeted that this would mean encouraging women to take more time between having each child – not limiting the number of children a woman can have:

Thirty years ago, an attempt by then-President Ibrahim Babangida to implement a birth control policy floundered, says BBC Igbo’s Uche Akolisa.

It tried to limit each couple to having a maximum of four children - failing to allow for cultural and religious sensitivities, she says.

According to the UN, the country is on course to become the third most-populous nation in the world after China and India by the middle of the century.

It warns of the challenges this poses in terms of provision of education, healthcare and jobs.

Unemployment in Nigeria currently stands at almost 20%. In 2016, 45% of graduates were unemployed.

Image source, Getty Images

HHP reshaped South Africa’s music industry, the country’s ruling African National Congress party has said in a tribute to the award-winning rap star who has died aged 38 (see earlier post).

The party’s statement said that details surrounding the musician’s death “remain sketchy, but HHP was open that he was suffering with depression”.

It said his use of "township lingo" popularised his hip-hop genre as he used "several languages IsiZulu, Sesotho including his mother tongue Setswana" in his music.

Andrew Harding
BBC News, Johannesburg

Auditors have become the victims of a wave of violent attacks in South Africa.

The concern is that government experts, sent to check the books of the country’s increasingly corrupt municipalities, are being intimidated or worse, on the orders of local officials.

In one attack, thieves broke into a guesthouse south of Johannesburg, shot a female auditor in both legs and fled with her laptop, which contained sensitive information about the accounts of the local municipality.

In another town, auditors were chased away after they came looking for some $25m (£20m) that had vanished from the local budget.

South Africa’s government has angrily condemned these and other recent incidents – urging municipalities to co-operate with state auditors, not intimidate them.

There is a lot at stake.

In recent years, the fight against corruption has focused on former President Jacob Zuma and other high-flying figures.

But the alleged rot goes far deeper.

Government auditors say local municipalities are now failing to account for $1.5bn each year.

Unsurprisingly, most councils fail their annual audits.

When a provincial bank collapsed recently, the official report described it as a “heist” – and detailed how local politicians and officials had conspired to loot $130m.

South Africa’s new President, Cyril Ramaphosa, is promising to clean things up – and has targeted prominent figures and institutions.

But at the local level, auditing remains an unexpectedly dangerous job.

Image source, Getty Images

South Africa hip-hop star Jabulani Tsambo, popularly known as HHP, has died at the age of 38.

His wife, Lerato Sengadi, told South Africa’s TimeLive news site, external: "Yes, yes it's true. I am with the family at the moment.”

There’s been an outpouring of messages of condolence on Twitter and the hashtag #RIPHHP is trending.

The award-winning musician is behind memorable hits such as Bosso, Jabba and Music and Light, says EyeWitness News - which has put together a compilation of his songs, external.

The BBC's Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg says HHP is considered by many as the man who, using local languages, made South African hip hop mainstream and popular at a time when artists were imitating US-style rap.

He helped create a new sound that still inspires up-and-coming musicians today, she says.

Dihya, or Kahina is said to have been a military and religious leader, who lived during the fall of the Roman Empire in Algeria.

Watch this video about her life - about which little is known, but many still use her image to represent strength, resistance and feminism:

This BBC Africa series has been produced using historical and iconographic research, but includes artistic interpretation.

Killian Ngala Chimtom
BBC Africa, Yaounde

Cameroon’s government has issued a public tender for the construction of a new residence for the president of the Constitutional Council, the same legal body that just two days ago announced the re-election of long-time President Paul Biya.

The timing of the tender has raised eyebrows.

Image source, EPA

According to the tender announcement, the construction of the residence should take less than eight months to complete and the estimated budget is 272m CFA ($473,000, £366,000).

The formation of the Constitutional Council was enshrined in the 1996 constitution, but its 11 members were only appointed by the president in February this year.

The council’s first public function was adjudicating the results of the presidential election held on 7 October.

Earlier this week, Clement Atangana, the council’s president, announced that President Biya had won a seventh term in office with 71% of the vote.

The council also dismissed the 18 petitions from the opposition candidates - some of whom alleged fraud.

Opposition candidate Maurice Kamto, who was placed second with just 14% of the votes, continues to dispute the official results.

While the tender indicates that the building in an upmarket area of the capital, Yaounde, will be a public structure, given the timing many Cameroonians view this as being specifically for Justice Atangana.

Neither Justice Atangana nor the ministry of communications responded to the BBC’s request for comment.

Image source, Martin Ennals Award

A Sudanese refugee is one of three people nominated for a prestigious human rights prizes.

The annual Martin Ennals Award recognises the work of human rights defenders at risk of persecution.

Abdul Aziz Muhamat, 26, has been held on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island for five years and the award organisers say he has been “a compelling and tireless advocate for refugee rights”.

According to the Martin Ennals Award, he was granted refugee status in early 2015, but remains on Manus Island, external, along with several hundred other men who were transferred there after arriving in Australian territory by boat and seeking asylum.

Since 2013, Australia has detained all asylum seekers who arrive by boat on Manus Island and Nauru, a small Pacific nation.

The award jury said Mr Muhamat had documented the allegations of abuse and cruelty they suffer in detention centres.

The jury also tweeted this film about why they had nominated him for the prize:

The AFP news agency also quotes the awards organisers as saying: "He has paid a price for this as he is seen as a 'ring leader.’”

Mr Muhumat, whose profile on Twitter says "detained by Australian government for five years, stolen my dreams", tweeted his thanks to the jury for their recognition:

The Martin Ennals Award is named after the late British lawyer who became the first head of the human rights organisation, Amnesty International.

The award ceremony will take place in Geneva on 13 February 2019.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

A final round of peace talks to end a political crisis in Burundi has been postponed until Thursday after the government said it would not attend.

Correspondents say mediators are trying to persuade the government to change its mind.

The talks in the Tanzanian city of Arusha are meant to heal the deep divisions that emerged after President Pierre Nkurunziza stood for a controversial third term in 2015.

Read earlier post about the reasons behind the boycott.

Image source, AFP

Nigeria’s parliament has passed a law capping campaign spending for next year’s elections.

The following limits have been set:

• Presidential candidates: $14m (£11m)
• Gubernatorial candidates: $3m
• Senate candidates: $700,000
• House of Representatives candidates: $280,000.

The Electoral Act also stipulates how electronic card readers, used for the accreditation of voters at polling stations, should work.

The BBC’s Aliyu Tanko in Lagos says this is seen as a move to address the malpractices that have characterised previous elections.

Card readers were used at some polling stations during the last elections, but there have been worries about them functioning in rural areas where power shortages can be an issue.

It will be mandatory to use them now and the law says that should a card reader fail and a new one not be deployed within three hours, the election at that polling station should be cancelled and held within 24 hours.

Mercy Juma
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Image source, Reuters

Kenya’s High Court has released Governor Okoth Obado, who has been charged with aiding and abetting the brutal murder of his ex-girlfriend, on $50,000 (£39,000) cash bail.

Migori County governor has been in custody since his arrest last month, which followed weeks of public anger after the body of Sharon Otieno, a 26-year-old university student, was found in a forest.

A post-mortem revealed she had possibly been raped, and stabbed eight times in the neck, abdomen and back. She lost her unborn child during the attack.

Image source, EPA

The married governor, his assistant and a county employee, who have also been charged with murder, have all pleaded not guilty to the charge.

It is Mr Obado’s second attempt at securing bail following his arrest.

His initial request was rejected on 27 September when the prosecution raised concerns about the safety of witnesses in the murder trial.

Mr Obado has been asked to surrender his travel documents, including his passport, and his movements have been restricted to within 20km (12 miles) of the boundaries of Migori County in western Kenya.

His assistants have been denied bail as the court said they may interfere with investigations.

The next hearing with be on 17 May 2019.

• Find out more about the case.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Burundi’s government is boycotting a final round of peace talks to end a political crisis that erupted three years ago.

The talks in the Tanzanian town of Arusha are meant to heal the deep divisions that emerged after President Pierre Nkurunziza stood for a controversial third term in 2015.

A crackdown on opposition protests led to more than 1,000 people being killed and there was a failed coup plot in the same year

The government has said it is not sending anyone to Arusha because October is a month of mourning in Burundi.

A former prime minister was killed in October 1961 and a former president was assassinated during the same month in 1993.

But for many Burundians, this is a strange excuse to skip an event which is meant to heal deep political divisions.

Just last week the government accused an opposition leader of organising a plot to kill President Nkurunziza.

Pierre-Celestin Ndikumana dismissed the accusation as a crude plot to intimidate him.

The president says he will not run for office again but the political crisis remains unresolved.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, AFP

World marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge has been named as the UN Person of the Year by the United Nations team in Kenya.

The 33-year-old Kenyan set a new marathon record in September with a time of two hours one minute 39 seconds in Berlin.

He took nearly one minute 20 seconds off the previous best.

He has been recognised for his "extraordinary sports performances, his work on HIV/Aids in Kenya, his endurance, his courage" which embody the ideals of the UN, Unesco tweeted, external.

Those in the audience at the UN headquarters in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, have also been tweeting from the ceremony:

Kipchoge has won the Berlin Marathon and the London Marathon three times each, and holds the record for each course.

Read more: The stats behind Kipchoge's world record

Jose Tembe
BBC Africa, Maputo

Mozambique is sending a team of police officers to Tanzania to find out the identity of the more than 100 armed militants arrested last week by their Tanzanian counterparts.

Tanzania accuses the detainees of planning to set up bases in Mozambique.

“We are going to interact with Tanzania to better learn more about the detentions and the tensions of the detainees,” police spokesman Inacio Dina said.

There have been at least 50 suspected militant Islamist attacks in the north of Mozambique since October last year.

Ninety people have been killed, most of them by decapitation and more than 1,000 families have fled their homes in the gas-rich province of Cabo Delgado, close to the border with Tanzania.

Read: How smuggling barons are nurtured militants

Image source, Getty Images

Nigeria’s finance minister says the government is mulling a plan to limit the number of children a woman can have.

Zainab Ahmed made the comment at a summit focusing on Nigeria’s economy in the capital, Abuja.

She said one the challenges Nigeria faced to meet economic growth targets set by the government was the country’s burgeoning population.

The government was consulting religious and traditional leaders nationwide about the policy, Ms Ahmed said.

“We have been engaging traditional rulers and other leaders. Specifically, we have found out that to be able to address one of the great challenges that we identified in the ERGP [Economic Recovery Growth Plan], which is the growth in our population, we need to engage these institutions,” Nigeria’s Punch newspaper quoted her as saying, external.

“And we hope that with their support, we will get to a point where we can come out with the policy that limits the number of children that a mother can have because that is important for sustaining our growth.”

Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation with an estimated population of 186 million.

Image source, _

Our proverb of the day:

Image source, Getty Images

Click here to send in your African proverbs.

Welcome back to BBC Africa Live where we'll be keeping you up-to-date with news and trends from across the continent.

BBC Africa Live
Dickens Olewe

That's all from BBC Africa Live for now. 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 Tuesday's African proverb:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this video of dancers in Uganda performing at an event to mark the country's women's week.