Image source, AFP

Gabon’s President Ali Bongo, who has been in hospital for more than a month in Saudi Arabia, is being transferred on Wednesday to the Moroccan capital, Rabat, to convalesce.

His wife Sylvia Bongo posted on social media that the transfer was possible because of a “significant improvement” in her husband’s health.

The family was extremely grateful to Morocco’s King Mohammed VI for his invitation, she added.

Mr Bongo is thought to have suffered a stroke while on an official visit to the Saudi capital although there has been no official explanation of why he is seeking medical treatment.

Gabon’s government spokesman Guy-Bertrand Mapangou told BBC Afrique the 59-year-old’s health was so improved that, should he want to, he could begin work by meeting his chiefs of staff.

“The president is doing better and better. We will even say that he is better," he said.

Mr Bongo was sworn in for a second seven-year term in September 2016, after a bitterly disputed election in the oil-rich nation.

He took over from his late father Omar Bongo, who had ruled Gabon for 41 years until his death in 2009.

Russian bank VTB has said a "technical mistake" was behind its October financial report listing a $12bn (£9bn) loan to the Central African Republic (CAR).

The amount is more than six times CAR's annual economic output.

The bank said in a statement that it had no operations in CAR, and "a technical mistake with coding countries" was behind the listing of the loan in the quarterly VTB financial report released by Russia's central bank.

VTB said that no money was transferred to CAR and the loan did not exist.

CAR government spokesman Ange Maxime Kazagui denied knowledge of the loan and said any suggestion that the money was received "doesn’t sound credible because $11bn is beyond the debt capacity of CAR.”

“We are members of the IMF [International Monetary Fund]. When a member of the IMF wants to take on debt ... it has to discuss that with the IMF," he added.

Russia has built up security and business ties with CAR in the last few years.

The former French colony of 4.6 million people has been riven by internal conflict since it gained independence from France in 1960.

Watch the video below for more about the curious relationship between Russia and CAR:

Read more: Central African Republic country profile

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Two former presidents of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina and Marc Ravalomanana, will face each other in a run-off election next month.

Neither candidate won the 50% of votes required for victory in the first round, though Mr Rajoelina finished ahead of Mr Ravalomanana by about 4%.

Hery Rajaonarimampianina, the incumbent president, trailed a distant third.

Madagascar was engulfed in deadly political violence in 2009 when Mr Ravalomanana - the democratically elected president at the time - was deposed by Mr Rajoelina in a military-backed coup.

Both men were barred from participating in the last election on the Indian Ocean island in 2013.

Nick Cavell
BBC Africa Sport, Ghana

A semi-final victory for South Africa at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations means Banyana Banyana will play at the World Cup finals for the first time.

They celebrated in fine voice with captain Janine Van Wyk tweeting, "We have done it. We made history."

They will face Nigeria on Saturday in the Ghanaian capital Accra.

This means the Super Falcons will be defending their title - and will look forward to an eighth appearance at the World Cup.

They needed penalties to beat Cameroon after a goalless 120 minutes, while South Africa beat Mali 2-0.

Cameroon and Mali must now lift themselves for Friday's third-place play-off that has a World Cup place on offer for the winners.

Read the BBC Sport story for more

BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

People of African descent continue to face widespread and entrenched prejudice and exclusion in the European Union (EU), a new report says.

The study, by the EU's Agency for Fundamental Rights, is based on interviews carried out in 2015 and 2016 with nearly 6,000 people of African heritage in 12 European countries.

Thirty percent of respondents said they had experienced some form of racial harassment in the previous five years.

Five percent had experienced a violent attack.

The study found notable differences between countries, with two-thirds of respondents in Finland saying they had experienced harassment compared to just over a fifth in the UK.

Louise Dewast
Dakar, Senegal

Image source, AFP

Senegal’s government has said it wants all of its art currently in French museums to be returned.

Last week an experts’ report, commissioned by France’s President Emmanuel Macron, recommended that African treasures taken without permission be returned to their countries of origin.

The move comes as the new Museum of Black Civilisations is about to open in Senegal's capital, Dakar.

The site will offer nearly 40,000 sq ft of exhibition space.

Senegal's Culture Minister Abdou Latif Coulibaly told the BBC he welcomed the French report as “every piece from Senegal is in France”.

“We've read it and we consider it's a positive report - it's legitimate and follows the course of history”.

The minister says they've already asked the French government for more than 100 artifacts.

Very few countries have put in formal requests for the return of their art, but this could quickly change.

The country with the highest number of art pieces in France is Chad.

For years Dakar has been aiming to position itself as a cultural capital in the region - and now with a president running for re-election, the government is attempting with this museum to make that happen.

The Museum of Black Civilisations was the idea of Senegal’s first President Leopold Sedar Senghor.

More than 50 years later, the project is coming to life, after a $20m (£16m) Chinese investment.

Read: A guide to Africa's 'looted treasure'

Our proverb of the day:

Image source, Getty Images

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

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

That's all from BBC Africa Live today. Keep up-to-date with what's happening across the continent by listening to the Africa Today podcast or check 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 of this photo of fishing boats in Mauritania's coastal capital, Nouakchott:

After a car accident, Hardlife Zvirekwi had to have his arm amputated.

Before the crash he was an international footballer for Zimbabwe and he feared he would never play again.

However he has now returned to the game and is back playing in Zimbabwe's top division with his club, CAPS United:

Image source, Sisuku Julius Ayuk Tabe/Facebook

Ten Cameroonian separatist leaders who were extradited from Nigeria earlier this year will face trial next month on terrorism charges that could lead to the death penalty, Reuters news agency quotes one of their lawyers as saying after a court hearing on Tuesday.

Among them is Sisuku Julius Ayuk Tabe, the leader of an Anglophone separatist movement in western Cameroon fighting to break away from the Francophone-dominated central government.

Mr Tabe and his co-defendants have been charges with 10 offences, including terrorism, advocating terrorism, secession, civil war and revolution.

The secessionist movement took up arms last year to demand independence for the North-West and South-West regions - the two English-speaking regions in a country where French is the most widely spoken official language.

Since then, hundreds of people including civilians, separatist fighters and government forces have been killed in the violence.

Read more about the Anglophone crisis:

• Burning Cameroon: The images you're not meant to see
• Red Dragons and Tigers - Cameroon's secessionist rebels

Ten of thousands of supporters of opposition figure Félix Tshisekedi took to the streets of the capital, Kinshasa, to welcome him back after his trip to Kenya where he announced his candidacy for Congolese president.

He was accompanied by his running mate, Vital Kamerhe.

The two politicians reneged on an agreement - made two weeks ago by six opposition leaders in Geneva, Switzerland - to back a compromise candidate for the 23 December election, saying that their supporters were not happy with businessman Martin Fayulu.

Mr Fayulu, however, retains the backing of former vice-president and warlord, Jean-Pierre Bemba and Moïse Katumbi, the powerful former governor of mineral-rich Katanga province. Both those men were barred from running themselves.

Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary got the nod as the ruling party candidate in the race to replace President Joseph Kabila, who has ruled the Democratic Republic Republic of Congo since 2001.

Mr Kabila's mandate ended in 2016 but he refused to step down, leading to elections being postponed twice.

Under his leadership, the vast central African country has been riven by conflict.

The BBC's Poly Muzalia snapped these pictures of Mr Tshisekedi's jubilant supporters in the capital:

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

Image source, Gallo images

The chair of South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) has told an inquiry into state capture that corruption has been "a reality for a long time".

State capture refers to business people exerting undue influence on government officials to secure lucrative contracts.

ANC chairman Gwede Mantshe, who previously served as the party's secretary-general, also told the inquiry that the controversial Gupta family wanted the ANC to intervene in their dispute with South Africa's commercial banks.

The Guptas and former President Zuma have always maintained their innocence.

When asked what the ANC did when it realised that corruption was a reality, Mr Mantashe said the party made a "unanimous decision" to establish an independent body to investigate state capture at its elective conference last December.

Mr Mantashe was the most senior ANC official to give evidence at the inquiry.

He also said that the ANC wanted to help the inquiry find out "whether there were any irregularities, undue enrichment, corruption and undue influence in the awarding of contracts, mining licenses, government advertising in The New Age newspaper, any other governmental services in the business dealings of the Gupta family with government departments and state-owned enterprises".

President Cyril Ramaphosa is also expected to give evidence in the New Year.

The inquiry continues.

BBC World Service

Image source, Marie Stopes

Reports from Niger say the authorities have ordered the closure of two centres run by the British charity, Marie Stopes International, saying they were illegally performing abortions.

The French news agency AFP quotes the health ministry as saying the decision follows an inquiry.

Niger passed a law in 2006 specifying that abortions are allowed only if the mother's life is in danger.

There's been no word from the charity.

Women in Niger have an average of more than seven children each - the highest birth rate in the world.

Earlier this month, Kenya - which also has strict abortion laws - said it was closing down abortion services provided by Marie Stopes International.

The flower industry is big business in Kenya but over the last few years farmers have been facing tough times due to the effects of climate change and the lack of government investment.

BBC Newsday's Alan Kasujja went to one of the largest flower farms, Oserian, which lies on the banks of Lake Naivasha and employs more than 4,000 people:

Plastic pollution is blighting the lives of locals in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt.

It has long suffered from pollution from oil spills, but now plastic clogs the city’s waterways, killing marine life and endangering the livelihood of the local fishing population.

According to researchers, 10 rivers are responsible for depositing 90% of the plastic that ends up in the sea. Eight of them are in Asia and two in Africa: the river Nile and the river Niger.

The BBC’s Mayeni Jones went to what was once known as the Garden City of Nigeria, to find out what’s causing the problem and to meet some of the people fighting back.

Video journalist: Joe Inwood

Image source, MO SALAH

Football star Mo Salah has spoken out against plans in his home nation of Egypt to export stray animals abroad, amid fears they will be used for food.

"Cats and dogs will not be exported anywhere. This won't happen and can't happen," he tweeted, alongside images of his pet Siamese cats.

Animal rights activists reacted with anger over the decision, with many calling for the practice to end.

Stray cats and dogs are a common sight in Egypt's streets.

The row began after it was reported last week that Egypt's agriculture ministry had approved the removal of around 4,000 cats and dogs to be sent abroad.

Last Wednesday, privately owned Egyptian newspaper al-Masry al-Youm said the ministry had started issuing health certificates to begin the export process for about 2,400 cats and 1,600 dogs.

• Read the full story here

Image source, AFP

Chad is to restore its relations with Israel after President Idriss Déby made a surprise visit to Jerusalem.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the two-day visit would renew ties.

Diplomatic relations between Israel and Chad were severed in 1972, but Israeli newspaper Haaretz says coordination between the two countries in the defence arena "never truly ceased".

Mr Netanyahu said he would also visit the majority-Muslim nation "soon".

The two leaders discussed shared threats and the struggle against terrorism, as well as cooperation in agriculture, solar energy, water security and health, the statement from the Israeli premier's office said.

Chadian security sources say the country has acquired Israeli equipment to help battle rebels in the country's north, AFP reports.

The news agency says Chad is among a number African countries that have historically kept their distance from Israel, in solidarity with Palestinians.

Mr Netanyahu said the renewal of ties with the central African state shows the country is nonetheless making inroads in Africa.

Image source, Alamy

Lesotho's Prime Minister Thomas Thabane has told BBC Focus on Africa radio that the salary of parliamentarians is under review, but the economy is in a bad state.

His comment followed a report in the privately owned Lesotho Times newspaper, quoting unnamed parliamentarians as demanding a pay hike of 100%.

See earlier post for more details.

Nick Cavell
BBC Africa Sport

History will be made today at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations as either South Africa or Mali will qualify for their first Women's World Cup.

The winner of this evening's semi-final in Cape Coast, Ghana, not only reaches the final of the Nations Cup but also a place in France next year. Kick off is at 18:30 GMT.

Before that in Accra at 15:30 GMT, Nigeria continue the defence of their title against Cameroon, in a repeat of the 2014 and 2016 finals - both won by the Super Falcons.

A win for Nigeria would see them qualify for their eighth World Cup - that's every single tournament so far - while for Cameroon it would be a second appearance.

The only other teams to play at the World Cup from Africa are Ghana, Equatorial Guinea and Ivory Coast.

The semi-final losers have a second chance to reach the World Cup on Friday, as the winner of the third-place play-off also qualifies for the finals in France.