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

Lucy Fleming
BBC News

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 shot posted on Instagram by a photographer on the Tanzanian archipelago of Zanzibar showing some beach acrobatics:

Image source, AFP

Niger is to move some rare giraffes to a reserve 600km (400 miles) away to save them from encroaching desert, farmland and increasing instances of them being struck by vehicles, the AFP news agency quotes the environment minister as saying.

"It's to give the species better protection," Almoustapha Garba told journalists.

AFP says he explained that initially seven females and three males would be taken from a herd living in the south-west Koure region south of the capital, Niamey, and relocated in the Gadabedji Reserve in the centre of the country.

Thanks to conservation efforts, the number of West African giraffes in Koure grew from 50 in 1996 to an estimated 612 in 2017, AFP quotes environment ministry figures as saying.

US reality TV star Blac Chyna is being criticised for her plan to sell skin-lightening cream in Nigeria.

The model's new product, in partnership with a brand called Whitenicious, was announced on Instagram and is being launched over the weekend in Lagos.

The Whitenicious x Blac Chyna Collection is described as an "illuminating and brightening cream" that "lightens without bleaching skin out".

The founder of Whitenicious is Cameroonian pop star Denecia.

There has been controversy around her brand since it launched in 2014.

The company says its cream is meant to be used for conditions like hyperpigmentation, when people have dark spots on their skin.

But that hasn't stopped a backlash against Blac Chyna, who rose to fame stripping and modelling, before launching a make-up brand and having a child with Rob Kardashian.

The story has generated a huge reaction on the BBC Africa Facebook page, external.

Comments include:

Read the BBC Newsbeat story for more.

Reigning African women's football champions have beaten Zambia 4-0 in their match at Cape Coast in Ghana.

Next up in Group B is South Africa v Equatorial Guinea.

Child marriage will cost African countries tens of billions of dollars in lost earnings, the World Bank has said.

It published a report for the African Union Commission’s summit on ending the practice that is taking place in Ghana this week.

The World Bank says young brides are more likely to drop out of school, meaning they are likely to earn less money.

On average, women who have a secondary education are more likely to work and they earn twice as much as those with no education, the report says.

Estimates for 12 nations, accounting for half of the African continent’s population, suggest that through its impact on girls’ education, child marriage is costing these countries $63bn (£49bn), external, it added.

Quentin Wodon, principal author of the report, said:

Image source, TV Livre

Former Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos has held a surprise press briefing , externalin the capital, Luanda, to defend himself against his successor's allegation that he left the country broke when he stepped down last year.

“I did not leave the state coffers empty. In September 2017 at the time of the changeover of presidents, I left $15bn (£11bn) in the National Reserve Bank (BNA),” he said.

The 76-year-old, who ruled the southern African nation for 38 years, did not take questions from reporters.

His daughter, Isabel dos Santos, who is Africa's richest woman, tweeted about the event.

She alluded to the country's strained finances blaming President João Lourenço for the situation.

Mr Lourenço had told Portugal's weekly Expresso newspaper on Saturday that he found the country’s coffers empty when he took over, the East African newspaper reports., external

When asked if he would disclose his own assets, President Lourenço told the paper he had no need to do so as he was not wealthy.

“I am not a millionaire or a billionaire,” he said.

Since coming to office, the 64-year-old has also targeted members of his predecessor's family in an anti-corruption crackdown.

He fired Ms dos Santos last year from heading the state oil company Sonagol. She has denied any wrong-doing but prosecutors have summoned her to answer questions about her 17 months running the firm.

Her brother, José Filomeno dos Santos, was detained in September on suspicion of money-laundering, embezzlement of public funds and fraud. He has not commented on the allegations.

Image source, AFP

Three people were beheaded in the central Kasai region in the Democratic Republic of Congo over weekend while campaigning for the ruling party’s presidential candidate, the AFP news agency reports, citing relatives and party officials.

They were wearing People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) T-shirts showing the face of candidate Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, a son of the one of the victims told AFP.

Long-delayed elections are scheduled to take place in DR Congo on 23 December when President Joseph Kabila, in power for 18 years, will step down.

Official campaigning kicks off on Thursday and Amnesty International has warned that a hostile environment leaves little room for people to exercise their human rights.

Joan Nyanyuki, from Amnesty International, said in a statement:

The Kasai region, once one of the most prosperous and peaceful in DR Congo, descended into violence in 2016.

Long-simmering resentment exploded into rebellion against the government.

Read:I climbed over bodies to flee

Image source, PHILLIP ROGERSON

A gay rugby player from Kenya has been given a temporary reprieve from being deported from the UK.

Bristol Bisons team member Kenneth Macharia said if his claim for asylum was rejected and he was made to return to Kenya he would suffer violence.

His MP, James Heappey, confirmed the "removal" had been cancelled but said Mr Macharia still had to do a "lot of hard work" with his solicitor.

The UK Home Office said it did not comment on individual cases.

Homosexual acts are illegal in Kenya and punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Read the BBC News story for more.

Image source, Alamy

A Moroccan woman has been accused of killing her lover and serving up his remains to Pakistani workers in the United Arab Emirates, prosecutors say.

The woman killed her boyfriend three months ago, they say, but the crime was only recently discovered when a human tooth was found inside her blender.

She confessed to police, calling it a moment of "insanity", state-owned newspaper The National reports.

The woman, who is in her 30s, will go on trial pending an investigation.

Read the BBC News story for more

A story is trending about a South African cyclist who was stabbed in the head by attackers in Cape Town on Monday afternoon.

Shaun Wayne, a waiter who had been on his way to work, managed to get back on his bike with the blade still stuck in his skull and ride for help to a nearby doctor.

Graphic photos of the lodged knife were shared on Facebook by former champion cyclist Wimpie van der Merwe, external, saying it was the same place he was attacked last week.

A doctor at the local surgery, Brendan Venter, a former Springbok rugby player and a rugby coach, is quoted by the UK Daily Mail as saying, external: “One of our female doctors was on duty and she was called to a patient with a knife wound.

“To say it was dramatic to see him with a knife sticking out of the side of his head was an understatement but he was very calm and lucid although bleeding a lot.”

Nick Cavell
BBC Africa Sport

Action at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations turns to Group B and the Ghanaian city of Cape Coast - and if Zambia and South Africa can both win they would qualify for the semi-finals.

Zambia are now play reigning champions Nigeria. Follow @CAF_AWCON, external for updates on the match.

The official tournament account has tweeted videos of She-polopolo and the Super Falcons arriving at the stadium in full voice:

After this match, South Africa take on the only other team to have won the title, Equatorial Guinea.

Zimbabwe's long-time leader Robert Mugabe was forced to resign from power exactly a year ago. Emmerson Mnangagwa, his vice-president, took over with the help of the military, promising to return the country to prosperity.

The BBC's Shingai Nyoka has spoken to some of those who celebrated Mr Mugabe's downfall to find out what has changed:

Three university students died in Ethiopia's Benishangule Gumuz regional state after violence broke out at their institution on Tuesday, the minister for higher education has said, state-linked Fana news site reports., external

Hirut Woldemariam told local reporters that the clashes first begun as a dispute between several students.

But she says they quickly erupted into ethnic conflict after incitement from people she alleges are opposed to the ongoing reforms by the country’s new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Ms Hirut said 34 others from Assosa University were injured in the incident.

She said a team had been formed, composing of members from her ministry and others, to visit the university to "restore peace".

In October, fighting between rival ethnic groups in western Ethiopia killed more than 40, according to local media.

The UN said 70,000 people had been displaced.

Halima Umar
BBC Hausa

Image source, Getty Images

A popular musician from Niger, Mamane Barka, has died in the capital, Niamey.

Born in 1959, he devoted himself to the traditional music of Niger, bringing it to the world stage.

He started his music career playing the gurumi, a two-stringed instrument.

But in 2002, he changed direction thanks to a scholarship from Unesco - according to London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, external.

He used the money to revive the music of the biram, a boat-shaped, five-stringed instrument played by the Boudouma people – nomadic fishermen around Lake Chad.

He met the only surviving biram master, Boukar Tar, who taught him how to play the instrument, which is believed to protect the spirit of the lake.

Barka popularised the music “bringing the instrument to the attention of the wider world with his own blend of desert blues”, Soas said in 2009.

This is a clip of him playing the biram at Womad in the UK 10 years ago:

Mamane Barka is expected to be buried in his home town of Tesker on Thursday, according to Islamic rites.

He was known for singing in Hausa and French.

This is one of his early hits, Ameram – praising the kindness of a woman he met when he was a teacher – his first job.

Barka was also the author of three books on Nigerien culture.

Later in his life he taught people how to play local instruments.

Nick Cavell
BBC Africa Sport

While there was disappointment on home soil at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations for Ghana there were reasons to cheer in Uruguay as the Black Maidens got their third straight win at the Under-17 Women's World Cup, beating New Zealand 2-0 to finish top of Group A.

Ghana now face Mexico in the quarter-finals on Sunday.

However, South Africa slumped to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Brazil to finish bottom of Group B with just one point.

But the Bantwana stayed on to support their fellow African side as Ghana played next, cheering them on to victory – as Alex Stone from Fifa tweeted:

On Wednesday, at the under-17 World Cup, Cameroon face North Korea in their final Group C encounter at 20:00 GMT.

The other game sees USA play Germany.

Doctored photos of MPs in Kenya looking like greedy hyenas are trending in Kenya with the hashtag #MheshimiwaFisi, external.

This translates from Swahili as "The Honourable Hyena" and is a reaction to the news that MPs are demanding an increase in allowances, external.

The BBC's Ken Mungai in the capital, Nairobi, says Kenyans on Twitter are outraged as the East African country's MPs are amongst the highest paid in the world.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has criticised the proposal - contained in the Parliamentary Service Bill - saying during a speech on Monday: "With all due respect, everyone wants to live a good life, but before we as leaders live a good life, we should make sure that our people get the best."

See a clip of his remarks below from the Daily Nation:

It is not clear how many MPs are going to back the Parliamentary Service Bill.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC Africa, Abuja

Image source, AFP

Suspected Boko Haram insurgents have killed more than 44 army officers, including a senior commander, in an attack on a military base in a remote village in north-eastern Nigeria, according to army sources and local media.

Driving in a convoy of gun-mounted trucks, the militants overrun the base in Maitele in Borno state near the border with Niger, they said.

Many other soldiers are reportedly missing following the attack on Sunday.

The attackers have also seized military equipment.

In a separate assault on Tuesday, reports say the militants killed at least nine civilians and abducted more than a dozen others in the village of Mammanti also in Borno state.

The Nigerian army has not officially confirmed nor denied the reports.

Boko Haram and its splinter faction known as Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap) have stepped up deadly attacks in recent months on military and civilian targets in the region.

This comes as Nigeria prepares for presidential and parliamentary elections in February.

Read: Brutal tactics renew fears over insurgency

Image source, Reuters

Gabonese President Ali Bongo will soon be transferred from hospital in Saudi Aradia to the UK capital, the magazine Jeune Afrique is reporting.

Some reports said the 59-year-old had suffered a stroke when he was on a visit to the Saudi capital Riyadh last month.

Sources told Jeune Afrique that he was now well enough to travel, external and was expected to receive treatment at a specialised medical centre in London.

A convalescence in Morocco was considered, but London has been settled upon, it reports.

Peter Tah
Bamenda, Cameroon

Image source, Cameroon army

All nine students and a teacher kidnapped from a school in English-speaking Cameroon have been freed.

The private school on the outskirts of Kumba, in the South-West region's Meme district, had come under attack from gunmen on motorbikes on Tuesday.

The authorities have blamed separatist fighters for the abduction.

A senior government official in Meme, Chamberlin Ndong Nto’ou, told the BBC that three students were released on Tuesday night as troops raided a separatist camp, killing two fighters and capturing one.

This allowed seven of the hostages to escape – the other six students and a teacher were abandoned by the gunmen as they were pursued by the security forces.

The teacher is said to be receiving medical attention in the hospital. The students have been handed over to their parents.

Mr Nto'ou said two other separatists were killed on Wednesday morning as they tried to bury their colleagues, including the head of the group, who was known as “Man of Locks”.

Image source, Cameroon army

The attack took place at noon on Tuesday causing pandemonium on the campus of the Lords Bilingual Academy, with many of the children jumping over the school fence to avoid being kidnapped.

Many of the students remained unaccounted until later on Tuesday.

Earlier reports suggested that 20 students had been kidnapped largely because of the confusion that characterised the incident.

This comes barely three weeks after 79 schoolchildren, a teacher, and principal were kidnapped from Presbyterian Secondary School in Bamenda, the capital of North-West province, and later released.

Image source, Slesor Ebane

Kidnappings of students and teachers are becoming all too common in the restive English-speaking areas of Cameroon - the North-West and South-West regions.

Those also targeted include government officials and other high profile personalities.

Some nuns travelling to the town of Kumbo in the North-West region were kidnapped recently and released shortly after.

Most of the hostages are freed after ransoms have been paid.

Separatists are insisting that schools must stay shutdown in the English-speaking regions of Cameroon until government organises a referendum that will decide whether they can remain with the majority French-speaking Republic of Cameroon or break away and form their own state which they want to call Ambazonia.

Protests over the increasing use of French in courts and schools in Cameroon's English-speaking heartlands morphed into violence in 2017.