In just over two weeks, voters across Somalia will be choosing their five regional presidents.

In the South West region, Mukhtar Robow - a former deputy leader of al-Shabab - is on the ballot.

Although he has officially defected from the Islamist insurgent movement, he is still wanted by the US.

Abukar Arman - a former Somali diplomat - told the BBC's Newsday programme that Robow who, he says, was a flamboyant spokesperson for the militant group, could win the election "hands down".

Listen to the interview below:

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The Nigerian police say they have arrested 400 Shia Muslims following several days of protests in the capital, Abuja.

The police say the members of the pro-Iran Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) had 31 petrol bombs as well as other dangerous weapons.

The group is demanding the release of its leader, Ibraheem Zakzaky, who is accused of inciting violence and has been detained since 2015.

The army confirmed that soldiers shot dead three people on Monday accusing the protesters of trying to overrun a checkpoint.

The Shia group says more than 50 of its members were killed.

Human rights activists say about 300 members of the group were shot dead during a military crackdown three years ago.

Thousands of South Sudanese have gathered at Freedom Square in the capital, Juba, to celebrate Peace Day.

Earlier, rebel leader Riek Machar returned to the capital after two years in exile.

Regional leaders from Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda and Sudan are attending an official event to mark the peace deal, signed two months ago in Sudan by President Salva Kiir and Mr Machar. It's aimed at ending the civil war which started in 2013.

The UN mission in South Sudan has tweeted a picture of crowds at the celebrations:

Former Ghana Football Association (GFA) president, Kwesi Nyantakyi, has been banned from the sport for life for breaking bribery and corruption rules.

Nyantakyi, one of African football's most powerful figures, also broke conflict of interest rules, football governing, Fifa, said.

The body launched an investigation after Nyantakyi was pictured taking $65,000 (£48,000) from an undercover reporter.

Fifa also fined Nyantakyi, who was also vice-president of the Confederation of African Football and a member of the Fifa Council, $495,000.

Nyantakyi has said the footage had been doctored to falsely incriminate him.

Read more on the BBC Sport website

Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and Sudan President Omar al-Bashir have arrived in South Sudan's capital, Juba, coinciding with the return of rebel leader Riek Machar after his two years in exile.

South Sudan is celebrating Peace Day today, two months after President Salva Kiir and Mr Machar agreed to a ceasefire deal to end a five-year civil war.

A UN-run radio station has tweeted a picture of the arrival of Somalia's leader.

Tomi Oladipo
BBC Africa security correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Two years ago Riek Machar fled South Sudan on foot during heavy fighting between his troops and government forces.

On Wednesday morning he was received as a dignitary at the airport in Juba.

Mr Machar’s spokesman said the former first-vice-president would be arriving without his own security despite concerns for his safety.

Lam Paul Gabriel told the Associated Press that this return was a sign of his commitment to peace.

He will join his rival President Salva Kiir at South Sudan’s Peace Day celebrations today, but even with the recent peace deal they signed in August, their troops are still fighting in parts of the country.

This week the World Food Programme said that continued violence between both sides was blocking the deliveries of food aid to areas where it was desperately needed.

Image source, Reuters

South Sudan’s opposition leader Riek Machar has arrived in the capital, Juba, for the first time since he fled into exile in 2016.

Mr Machar, who has been leading a rebellion against President Salva Kiir, signed a peace deal in August.

Under the agreement he will be one of five vice-presidents.

Mr Machar will be attending the country’s Peace Day celebrations.

Last week, Mr Machar declined President Kiir’s invitation to return but his spokesman said that both sides needed to trust each other if there were to be peace.

South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011, but it was plunged into conflict in December 2013 following a power struggle between Mr Kiir and Mr Machar.

Previous attempts to find a solution to the conflict have failed.

Mr Machar returned to Juba once before, in 2016, but was forced to flee after a couple of months to the Democratic Republic of Congo after fighting broke out.

Hundreds of thousands have been killed in the civil war which has also displaced millions.

Read more about Riek Machar: Warlord turned peacemaker?

Wednesday's African proverb:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

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

BBC Africa Live
Natasha Booty

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 proverb:

And we leave you with this photo of people ripening bananas indoors in Ethiopia:

Image source, SABC

South Africa's public broadcaster SABC is considering laying off nearly 1,000 people, around one third of its full-time staff, in a bid to cut costs, according to a document seen by the BBC on Tuesday.

The broadcaster has said it is approaching the labour court with an application to invalidate irregular appointments and promotions.

Explaining the potentially radical decision, SABC Board Chairman Bongumusa Makhathini told BBC Focus on Africa radio:

The Communications Workers' Union (CWU) says it does not agree with the company's intention to make redundancies.The Broadcasting, Electronic, Media & Allied Workers Union's (Bemawu) spokesman has said “we believe that the SABC has not done proper homework”.

Two men were able to steal several mobile phones from staff at a church in South Africa on Monday after gaining entry by pretending to be delivering goods.

It was a Hillsong Church that was targeted, part of a global Christian organisation with branches in 21 countries around the world.

The church in question, in the Cape Town suburb of Century City, has said in a statement:

Police Spokesperson Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana said the men were armed but added that it was not a hostage situation, as previous reports had suggested.

"The circumstances surrounding this incident are under investigation with no arrests as yet," she said.

Image source, Hillsong Church

A century ago São Tomé and Príncipe was the biggest producer of cocoa in the world but it declined rapidly after independence. Things are looking up again.

A co-operative, CECAQ-11, is working with the British chocolate company Divine to help reinvigorate things.

Its CEO, Adalberto Luis, and one of the farmers, Hortência Pina, spoke to BBC Focus on Africa's Akwasi Sarpong:

Nigerian designer Emmy Kasbit's creative director Okoro Emmanuel is one of the rising stars of the African fashion industry.

In this BBC Africa One-Minute Story, he talks about Lagos Fashion week, his meeting with British prime minister Theresa May earlier this year, and his hopes for the African fashion industry:

Friends, family and fans have gathered in memory of South African hip-hop star Jabulani Tsambo, popularly known as HHP, who died last week at the age of 38.

In an emotional tribute, the late rapper's wife told fellow mourners at the ceremony in Johannesburg's Newtown Music Factory:

The award-winning musician was 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. She says his sound still inspires up-and-coming musicians today.

Image source, AFP

The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has urged international companies to invest more in Africa, saying the continent has huge growth potential.

Speaking in Berlin at the opening of an investment summit attended by several African heads of state, Mrs Merkel spoke of the need for fair trade relations with Africa.

Her comments come as Germany seeks to reduce the flow of migrants from Africa.

Ms Merkel's controversial 2015 open-door policy that led to more than one million migrants entering the country is a major reason why her popularity in Germany fell.

Ahead of the summit, Germany's development minister, Gerd Müller, said Germany would invest in healthcare, agriculture and education in Africa. He described hunger as murder.

Moses Musonga did not believe men could develop breast cancer until he was diagnosed himself with the disease.

The 67-year-old Kenyan told the BBC that he was in profound shock when doctors told him in 2013 that he had stage-three breast cancer, turning his life upside down.

"I was in denial and wondered why such a disease, which is not male-oriented, had singled me out of millions of men in the world," Mr Musonga said.

It all started with a painless lump in his right nipple that grew larger as time went by. Then came the nipple discharge and occasional chest pains.

He sought medical help when the skin on his right breast began to ulcerate. Tests on a tissue sample later confirmed that Mr Musonga had breast cancer.

Dr Sitna Mwanzi, a consultant medical oncologist at the Aga Khan University Hospital in the capital, Nairobi, said male breast cancer is not very common.

Her experience showed that for every 100 breast cancer patients, one will be male.

• Read the full story here

Chris Ewokor
BBC Africa, Abuja

Image source, Chris Ewokor/BBC

Hundreds of Shia protesters have again taken to the streets of Nigeria's capital, Abuja, defying a deadly crackdown in which three of their number were killed on Monday.

There have been scenes of commotion as security forced fired tear gas at demonstrators as they attempt to contain the march.

The Shia group, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), is protesting against the ongoing detention of its leader Ibrahim El-Zakzaky who has been in prison without trial for almost four years.

On Monday the army issued a statement confirming the deaths of three Shia protesters and injury of four soldiers following clashes earlier that day.

Three other Shia protesters were shot dead in the city by military officers in similar circumstances on Saturday.

Ibrahim Aydid
BBC Monitoring

For the fourth year running, Somalia has been declared the worst country in the world when it comes to prosecuting people who kill journalists.

The report, published by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), comes at a time when rights groups have condemned the killing of a Somali radio journalist in the capital, Mogadishu, on Saturday afternoon.

Abdullahi Mire Hashi, a breakfast host for a local broadcaster, was the third journalist to be killed in Somalia this year.

Their deaths have been blamed variously on both government forces and al-Shabab militants.

Two countries, Afghanistan and Colombia, re-join the list of offenders.

In Afghanistan, a recent case saw a suicide attacker targeted a group of journalists in Kabul, external, killing nine. In Colombia, alleged drug traffickers recently kidnapped an Ecuadoran news crew near the border and killed them in Colombian territory, external.

Both nations had fallen off the index in recent years as violent conflict receded, the statement posted on their web site said.

A top criminal lawyer whose clients included gang leaders has been shot dead outside his children's school in Cape Town as he was dropping them off for the day.

Police say they are searching for an as-yet unidentified suspect who shot Pete Mihalik dead in his car, in an attack which also left his eight-year-old son injured and needing hospital treatment. His daughter was unhurt.

"The suspect was seen fleeing the scene in a metallic-grey VW Polo", says Police Spokesperson Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana.

Image source, Gallo Images

Mr Mihalik, 50, was regarded as a talented lawyer known for defending high-profile cases including that of businessman Jason Rohde who was accused of murdering his wife‚ as well as other clients described by local media as "some of Cape Town’s leading gangsters".

Another lawyer with whom he often worked, Noorudien Hassan, was shot dead outside his home in Cape Town two years ago.