Lalla Sy
BBC News, Abidjan

Image source, Getty Images

West African military chiefs on Wednesday began a three-day summit in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, to discuss the escalating jihadist insurgency in the Sahel region.

The senior officers from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) will discuss the ongoing withdrawal of the French Barkhane troops carrying out counter-terrorism efforts in the Sahel, and the Africa Union’s proposal to deploy 3,000 troops to the region, the Ivorian newspaper Fraternite Matin reported.

Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have been batting an Islamist militants' insurgency for years. On 10 November, Togo confirmed the first militant attack on its territory.

The three-day summit will assess current operations and reflect on the prospects for improving security in the Ecowas zone.

The Chiefs of Staff Committee is a support body for Ecowas that brings together all the chiefs of the armed forces and is responsible for conflict prevention and management in the region.

They will visit the Jacqueville International Academy for Combating Terrorism.

Azeezat Olaoluwa
Women’s affairs reporter, BBC News, Lagos

Police in Nigeria are failing rape victims by not supporting and investigating the crime when reported, rights groups Amnesty International says.

"Women and girls continue to be failed by a system that makes it increasingly difficult for survivors to get justice, while allowing perpetrators to get away with gross human rights violations,” said Osai Ojigho, head of Amnesty International Nigeria.

Victims are instead exposed to shaming and stigma, a situation that perpetuates a culture of silence around sexual violence in the country, she added.

Gender activist Serben Shehi told the BBC that the lack of political will in tackling gender-based violence, especially rape, is worrying.

In 2020, Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission recorded 11,200 reported cases of rape. Amnesty describes it as the most prevalent human-rights violation in the West African country.

Last year Nigerian state governors declared a “state of emergency” on rape and gender-based violence, but Amnesty said nothing had changed.

Nigeria’s police has not respond to calls from the BBC at the time of this report.

Jonathan Paye-Layleh
BBC News, Monrovia

Image source, Jeffrey Guanue

A motorcycle taxi driver in north-eastern Liberia has put a wild chimpanzee he had lured to the local town "under house arrest".

Gannie Son told the BBC that the animal had started causing trouble by venturing into people's cocoa farms to look for food.

Mr Son came across the animal near forests on the outskirts of Blorwee town and fed it for days before it followed him to the town.

It caused quite a stir with locals feeding it and remarking how friendly it was.

But the locals stopped feeding it and Mr Son says he can't afford the three meals a day he has been giving it.

"I'm like the main host of the chimp, I have locked it up in one of my rooms so that I don't get into trouble with cocoa farmers," Mr Son said.

He says he fears that angry cocoa farmers could poison the animal, "and if this happens, I will really feel bad and guilty," he said.

Mr Son has once again sent out an appeal to the authorities in the region as well as animal rights groups to rescue the animal.

Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr remains under pressure despite leading the Super Eagles to the African World Cup play-offs.

The Africa Energy Forum, which brings together Africa’s energy ministers and heads of utilities with investors is currently underway in London. A key question to be addressed at this year’s three-day summit is what the African continent needs to make the green energy transition. Our business reporter Ijeoma Ndukwe speaks to Egypt’s Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Dr Mohamed Shaker El-Markabi about the country’s progress in this transition.

Image source, Getty Images

Nigerian artist Davido has shared a screengrab of his bank account on Twitter saying that fans have sent millions of naira an hour after he asked them to.

"If u know I've given you a hit song .. send me money," Davido tweeted before he started sharing updates of how much had been sent.

He later tweeted that 7m naira ($16,000; £12,000) had been raised in just 10 minutes, and joked that his target was 100 million naira because he wanted to pay off a loan he had taken for his Rolls-Royce car.

His latest tweet says he has now raised 57m naira.

Davido has 9.7 million followers on Twitter.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Nigerian engineers have said that a building in Lagos which collapsed while under construction killing 45 people was more than three times higher than originally designed.

The Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers said there were also signs that more than two engineering firms were working on the project at the same time.

The Nigerian government is carrying out its own inquiry into the collapse of the 21-storey apartment block earlier this month in the upmarket Ikoyi district.

The owner of the building was among those who died.

Image source, Mohamed Ali Abikar

The head of Kenya's prison service has been sacked days after three inmates serving time for terror-related offences allegedly escaped from a maximum security prison.

In a statement President Uhuru Kenyatta said Wycliffe Ogalo would be replaced with immediate effect "to entrench accountability in the ranks of the leadership of all security organs".

Mr Kenyatta also directed security agencies to use "all available resources" to pursue the escapees.

The fugitives include Mohamed Ali Abikar, who was convicted for his role in the 2015 Garissa University attack in which 148 people were killed.

The second man was arrested in 2012 over a foiled attack on the Kenyan parliament and the third for trying to join the al-Shabab militant group in Somalia.

The authorities have also made an appeal to the public, offering 20m Kenya shillings ($178,000; £132,000) for information about the three escapees.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Protests against the recent military takeover in Sudan are getting underway.

Activists across Sudan have called for people to take to the streets to mark the day when a civilian was supposed to take over the leadership of the governing Sovereign Council.

In a move reminiscent of former president Omar al-Bashir's oppressive tactics, the authorities have switched off phone lines and cut the internet.

If last month's coup had not taken place, today would have been an important milestone for the country.

The army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, was due to hand over the leadership of the Sovereign Council to a civilian.

Instead he's still in charge and seems intent on preventing the people of Sudan from choosing who should lead the country.

Read more: Protesters: 'They cannot kill us all'

Fifa confirms it has received a protest from Benin over the number of breaks taken by DR Congo to make substitutions in a 2022 World Cup qualifier.

Ferdinand Omondi
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, AFP

A new report by a US-based policy think-tank says that some conservancies in Kenya are driving local communities from their lands and fuelling ethnic conflict in the north.

Over this year, ethnic clashes involving pastoralists in wildlife conservation areas have left more than a dozen dead and displaced hundreds.

The Oakland Institute is accusing the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) of dispossessing communities of land in the name of conservation, while alleging that some of its armed ranger units have engaged in human rights abuses.

The trust denies all allegations and says the report is based on misconceptions.

The NRT is an umbrella organisation for 43 community conservancies in northern Kenya.

These conservancies describe themselves as locally run conservation areas for the protection of wildlife, and preservation of grazing lands and water resources, over an area of 42,000 sq km (16,200 sq miles).

But the Oakland report now claims that the NRT has dispossessed communities of their ancestral lands through intimidation and violence, to create wildlife conservancies aimed at foreign visitors. 

It also claims that NRT rangers, some of whom it says have been armed by the government to help fight poaching and guard against cattle rustling, have engaged in ethnic violence and extrajudicial killings.

The NRT denies all allegations and it's CEO, Tom Lalampaa, told the BBC that joining the organisation is voluntary and that none of its rangers are involved in violence.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, AFP

A report by the United Nations human rights agency, external says at least 1,000 people, mostly ethnic Tigrayans, have been arrested since the government declared a state of emergency on 2 November.

Under the six-month emergency, the authorities have sweeping powers to arrest people, detain suspects without trial, and conduct house searches without warrants.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said “at least 1,000 individuals are believed to have been detained over the past week or so – with some reports putting the figure much higher”.

The statement said detention conditions are generally poor and many detainees are held in overcrowded police stations.

Ten local UN staff members who were arrested on 9 November remain in detention.

“Most of those detained are reported to be people of Tigrayan origin, arrested often on suspicion of being affiliated to or supporting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF),” the UN said.

In the past, police said the arrests were not ethnically motivated but targeted supporters of the TPLF, which has been fighting the federal government for the past year and is now advancing towards the capital.

Sierra Leonean Mamie Margao has decided to make her garri stand out by adding other ingredients founds locally.

Garri is a major staple food in West Africa. It is the creamy fine to coarse granular flour that is obtained by processing the starchy roots of freshly harvested cassava.

Ms Margao's variations of garri have coconut and sesame seeds making the taste and colour different from that of ordinary garri.

She told the BBC's Focus on Africa that her inspiration was from God.

"I just wanted to make a different taste and add value," she said.

Ms Margao is the chairperson of the garri processing centre in Sierra Leone's second largest city, Bo.

Her customer base has been increasing and word has spread to Africans living in the diaspora who have bought the new garri.

Here is her full interview on Focus on Africa:

Image source, AFP

Hundreds of protesters held demonstrations in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou on Tuesday demanding the resignation of President Roch Kabore.

The protesters accuse the president of failing to rein in militants in the north and east who last weekend killed 28 soldiers and four civilians.

The country is holding three days of national mourning that began on Tuesday over the latest attacks.

A dozen civilians were killed at the beginning of the month in an attack by gunmen as they were going to a weekly market near the northern border with Mali.

A mobile fundraising platform has began refunding money contributed to support an initiative set up to support teenage mothers after fraud claims were made.

A Twitter thread by Shirleen Mukami had last week explained how she and a few other struggling young mothers with "absent baby daddies and unsupportive families" had come together to support each other.

The tweet was widely shared in Kenya and across the continent.

Kenyans then started contributing to the BABY SHOWER SISTERS initiative, raising more than 800,000 Kenya shillings ($7,100: £5,200).

But days later, some Kenyans questioned the genuineness of the initiative after someone posted a screengrab of an online chat, of a man allegedly bragging to his friends about how he had started the fundraising initiative to buy a car.

The platform, M-Changa, now says the initiative did not meet its "due diligence" and was refunding the entire amount raised.

Those who contributed say they have started receiving messages stating that refunds were being processed. Some had confirmed having received full refunds by Wednesday morning,

Ms Mukami has however defended the campaign, saying it was genuine.

She said she had sought the help of the man implicated in the online chats to help out - as he had been successful in fundraising in the past.

In another series of Twitter posts, she said the man told her that he was just joking with his friends:

Kenya's government has said security agencies are on high alert following Tuesday's terror attacks in the capital of neighbouring Uganda.

Government spokesperson Cyrus Oguna urged citizens to be vigilant and report any suspicious people.

The alert comes days after three prisoners who were convicted for terrorism-related charges escaped from a maximum security prison just outside the capital Nairobi.

In Uganda, three suicide bombers detonated explosives at two sites in Kampala killing themselves and three other people.

The Islamic State group has said it was behind Tuesday's blasts.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Kenya for regional security talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, is in Kenya for talks later on Wednesday with President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The talks involve regional security issues including the conflict in Ethiopia, combating Islamist terrorism in Somalia, and reviving Sudan's transition to a civilian government.

The US sees Kenya as a key partner and important influence in East Africa.

Photos of Mr Blinken's arrival in Kenya have been shared on Twitter:

The State Department said that Mr Blinken - on his first African tour - will discuss cooperation in ending the Covid pandemic, investing in health and addressing the climate crisis.

Analysts say the visit is also intended to counter China's growing economic influence in Africa.

Later in the week, Mr Blinken will travel to West Africa.

Patience Atuhaire
BBC News, Kampala

Image source, AFP

The so-called Islamic State group (IS) has said it was behind the blasts in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, on Tuesday.

Using the the social messaging app Telegram, it claimed that there had been more than 30 deaths and injuries as a result of the explosions.

Tuesday's explosions killed three civilians, as well as three suicide bombers, according to official figures. Over 30 people were injured in the blasts.

The police said they had pursued, shot and arrested a fourth suspected bomber.

IS's "news agency" Amaq said Uganda was "one of the countries participating in the war against Islamic State fighters in Central Africa" - its justification for targeting the country.

This is the third time the IS has claimed responsibility for attacks in Uganda since October this year.

President Yoweri Museveni, in a series of tweets on Tuesday night, condemned the attacks and said that they were being carried out by “confused grandchildren”.

Police have blamed the latest attacks on the Ugandan rebel group, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which is based in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The ADF claims to be affiliated to the IS group.

Image source, Getty Images

South Africa has declared four days of national mourning following the death on Thursday of the last white president FW de Klerk.

The national mourning starts on Wednesday evening to Sunday evening and "the national flag will be flown at half-mast as a mark of respect," the presidency said.

De Klerk died at the age of 85 on Thursday last week after having been diagnosed with cancer earlier in the year.

He will be cremated on Sunday in a private funeral attended by family members.

BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

The US State Department has warned American citizens in Ethiopia that it will not be able to evacuate them if the security situation worsens suddenly.

A senior US official urged American citizens to leave Ethiopia immediately, saying that Washington had no plans to organise a mass evacuation, as it did in Afghanistan.

The US and the African Union have been pressuring the Ethiopian government and rebels in the Tigray region to end their conflict, which has killed several thousand people and displaced two million since it started a year ago.

American officials say the US has held off approving sanctions against the warring parties, because peace negotiations are still active.