Image source, AFP

In his first state of the nation address since the ANC won May's general election in South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa described the youth unemployment rate of 50% as a national crisis.

He pledged to create two million jobs for young people over the next decade.

He listed economic growth, job creation as well as improving education and health as the country's top priorities.

He also promised to support the country’s struggling electricity utility Eskom.

But Mr Ramaphosa dared the country to dream.

He said he wants to build a bullet train and like China construct a new smart city.

The leader of the opposition Mmusi Maimane reacted by saying that the president wants us to dream but when he wakes up he will realise that we live in a nightmare.

Image source, EPA

Image source, Getty Images

More than 500 vultures and two tawny eagles have been poisoned in Botswana after coming into contact with three poached elephant carcasses that were laced with a poisonous chemical, the government there has said in a statement, external.

The creatures died at a site in the north of the country and the authorities are trying to decontaminate the area.

The statement does not go into details as to why this may have happened, but AFP news agency reports that poachers are known to deliberately target vultures. It says that vultures are used by park rangers to help track illegal poaching, therefore getting rid of the birds means that they are less likely to be found.

The government said that among the 537 vultures killed were:

• 468 white-backed vultures
• 28 hooded vultures
• 17 white-headed vultures
• 14 lappet-faced vultures
• 10 cape vultures

It has called on people in the area to report "any suspicious activities".

In May, Botswana lifted a ban on elephant hunting, citing growing conflict between humans and the animals, which at times destroy crops.

Critics of the ban, imposed in 2014, say the restriction was causing problems to small farmers and to those who previously benefited from hunting.

Red more:

• In depth: The war on elephants
• Why elephants are seeking refuge in Botswana

Friday's African proverb:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

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

BBC Africa Live
Esther Namuhisa, Damian Zane and Naima Mohamud

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

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this photo of young boys against a wall at the Sankore Madrasah in Mali's historic city of Timbuktu, taken by Ayse Topbas:

Image source, Getty Images

Niger's defence ministry has announced that 18 Islamic State (IS) militants have been killed in a joint operation by US, French and Nigerien troops.

Five others were also taken prisoner during a 12-day operation in Tongo Tongo, near Niger's border with Mali in the north, it said.

The troops had been targeting a group implicated in an ambush that killed 28 Nigerien soldiers last month, the ministry added.

"Important material" was also recovered, including military "equipment" stolen by IS members after the ambush, it said.

In a separate statement, France confirmed the operation but did not mention US involvement and said Malian troops had taken part.

The US has not yet made any public comment.

The area is close to a major training camp where Nigerien soldiers are trained to work in the United Nations' peacekeeping force in Mali.

The country has been wracked by internal violence in recent years, spurred by an Islamist insurgent throughout the poor, sparsely populated deserts of West Africa's Sahel.

Milton Nkosi
BBC Africa, Johannesburg

The former South African president has been implicated in alleged wrong-doing by various witnesses, ranging from former cabinet ministers to senior government officials.

In a statement issued today, the Commission of Inquiry said it had summoned Mr Zuma to attend its proceedings from 15-19 July, led by judge Ray Zondo.

Time will also be set aside “later in the year” for him to be questioned over any issues raised during the July hearing.

The 77-year-old former president, who stepped down last year, has not confirmed whether he will attend.

Mr Zum is believed to have asked for the questions in advance. The Commission said this is not allowed.

He has faced a litany of corruption allegations over the years, but denies any wrong doing.

Image source, Getty Images

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

A programme to disarm members of Renamo, a militant group in Mozambique, has come under threat after several Renamo gunmen refused to hand over their weapons unless the group's leader was changed.

Ossufo Momade became Renamo's head last year following the death Alfonso Dhlakama, who led the group during Mozambique's 16-year civil war.

Some members accuse Mr Momade of sidelining Frelimo members.

He is expected to register to run in October's presidential elections.

Correspondents say the divisions within Renamo are a serious threat to the peace process and could undermine the election.

Image source, AFP

Change is on the cards in Mauritania, the vast desert country in West Africa which has been a key ally of the West in the fight against Islamist militancy in the Sahara, with elections scheduled for Saturday.

Mauritania’s current President Mohamad Ould Abdel Aziz is stepping down after 11 years in power. He led a military coup in 2008, and won subsequent elections in 2009 and 2014.

It is the first time in years that opposition groups have taken part in the presidential race. It is also due be the first peaceful transition of power in a country accustomed to military takeovers.

Who is in the running?

Six candidates are running, including three first-timers.

One, Mohamad Ould Ghazouani, has the backing of President Aziz and is seen as the frontrunner, partly because the opposition has failed to agree on a single challenger.

Mohamad Ould Boubacar is believed to be the strongest opposition candidate. A French-educated technocrat, he has spent some 35 years in government, five of them as prime minister. He enjoys the support of several groups including the Islamist Tawassoul party – the most powerful opposition force in parliament. He has also been endorsed by exiled multi-millionaire Mohamed Ould Bouamatou, a cousin of the president who is now backing the opposition.

Unlike Mr Ghazouani, who is a retired general, Mr Boubacar has no military experience and describes himself as the “candidate for civilian change”.

Another candidate is Biram Dah Ould Abeid, an anti-slavery campaigner and the son of a former slave.

On policies, none of the opposition candidates has an especially unique campaign. All have focused on anti-corruption and the reform of education and healthcare.

Government-backed Mr Ghazouani has stayed away from the issue of corruption, but has promised to invest in massive infrastructure projects.

Will it be free and fair?

Oppositions groups have repeatedly expressed concerns about electoral rigging. Most members of the national election commission belong to parties that support Mr Ghazouani.

Calls for foreign observers have also been largely ignored by the government. It has allowed the European Union to send two experts, but only after the election.

There have also been calls for Mauritanians living abroad to have better access to voting stations, and for the electoral roll to be reviewed. More than 1.5 million people are currently registered, less than half its total population.

This will be the first race with ballot papers printed by a Mauritanian company. However, opposition members allege that the company is owned by someone who has raised money for Mr Ghazouani’s campaign.

A victory for Mr Ghazouani would be seen as a victory for Mauritania’s status quo. But if none of the candidates gets 50% of the vote, the election will go into a second round on 6 July. Should this happen, it may indicate that the country is witnessing its first free and fair election for the top political job.

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Government troops have stepped up security in the Koro district of central Mali after a suspected jihadist attack killed 41 people this week, AFP news agency reports.

The government believes the attacks were carried out by members of the Fulani community against ethnic Dogons.

It was the latest in a series of inter-communal attacks in recent months.

Ethnic tensions in central Mali have surged after a jihadist group led by preacher Amadou Koufa emerged in 2015, recruiting mainly from among the Fulani.

Clashes have increased with Dogon and Bambara groups who have formed their own militias.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has called for an end to violence, but has been criticised for failing to curb it.

Image source, Getty Images

MPs in South Sudan protested against a budget presentation by the finance minister on Thursday, news agency Reuters reports.

One MP, who spoke to Reuters, said there were frustrations around unpaid public salaries.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 as the outcome of an agreement that ended Africa's longest-running civil war. However, the newly formed country fell into another civil war, displacing four million people.

In September last year, a peace deal was signed to end the civil war.

Thursday's disruption in the parliament highlights the fragility of President Salva Kiir's government.

"Our teachers are not being paid. What are we doing? We are now presenting a new budget while our salaries are not being paid,” lawmaker Elizabeth Adut shouted inside the parliament.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

The head of Sudan's ruling military council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has sacked the country's acting prosecutor general.

Correspondents say Al-Waleed Sayyed Ahmed appears to have angered the military generals by publicly stating that he would not accept any interference in his work.

The military said it had spoken with the prosecutor general before clearing a protest site earlier this month - an operation in which dozens of people were shot dead by the security forces.

However Mr Ahmed denied he had been consulted. Protest leaders are refusing to restart talks aimed at restoring democracy until the Sudan's military leaders agree to the setting up of an independent committee to investigate the killings.

Egypt's foreign minister has hit back after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested on Wednesday that Egypt's ousted President Mohamed Morsi had been "murdered".

Mr Erdogan also threatened to raise the issue at G20 meeting in Japan later this month.

In a statement, Sameh Shoukry called the comments "irresponsible" and said Egypt was "ready to confront any threats, even these hollow ones".

Mr Morsi, overthrown in a coup in 2013 after one year in office, collapsed in a courtroom and died on Monday, officials said.

A top figure in the now-banned Islamist movement Muslim Brotherhood, Mr Morsi had just spoken from a cage at a hearing on charges of espionage.

State TV said the cause of death was a heart attack.

Read: Morsi TV gaffe puts spotlight on control of media

Image source, Reuters

Football’s international governing body has appointed its secretary general, Fatma Samoura, as a General Delegate for Africa in a bid to improve governance on the continent.

Ms Samoura, 56, will take charge for six months from 1 August, with the relationship "renewable" should Fifa and the Confederation of African Football (Caf) both agree.

A Senegal native and former United Nations official, she will remain as secretary general but some of her tasks will be delegated to other other Fifa members.

Caf has recently been in the spotlight following allegations of corruption against Admad Ahmad, the organisation's president. Mr Ahmad has denied any wrongdoing.

In a statement, Fifa said Caf would undergo a forensic financial audit "as soon as possible".

An 89-year-old man has been buried with piles of newspaper in central Uganda as part of his dying wish, according to New Vision newspaper.

Dodoviko Ssenyonjo was a reportedly a dedicated reader of local newspapers, and did not trust that relatives would keep his collection after he died.

"Rarely would he be seen without a copy of his newspaper," a local shopkeeper told New Vision.

As an African who grew up in Europe, the kind of poverty I'm aware of is mainly the Western kind: council flats, homelessness, alcohol abuse and drug problems.

I was curious to find out how I would react to the "immersive experience" of poverty in another part of the globe.

So I went along to Birmingham, the UK's second-largest city, where a charity offered the chance to "experience another world, without leaving yours".

Read more here

Last year BBC Africa Eye broadcast an undercover investigation into unlicensed rehabilitation centres in Kenya's capital, Nairobi.

The documentary exposed a form of religious healing, popular among Somali Muslims, that was violently out of control.

The team went back to find out what happened since the film was aired.

Watch their film:

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed a new group managing director for the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the oil giant said in a statement on Thursday.

Mele Kolo Kyari, a geologist who held the position of group general manager of NNPC's crude oil division, replaces Maikanti Kacalla Baru who was appointed in July 2016.

Mr Kyari was appointed alongside seven chief operating officers.

No reason was given for the shake-up.

Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer and, according to news agency Bloomberg, pumps up more than two million barrels a day.

Image source, Getty Images

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Thousands of opposition supporters have taken to the streets of several cities in Malawi to protest against last month's re-election of President Peter Mutharika.

In Lilongwe, Blantyre and Zomba, protesters are calling for the chief of the electoral commission, Jane Ansah, to step down.

President Mutharika won the election with less than 40% of the vote.

Two opposition parties, the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) and the United Transformation Movement (UTM), are challenging the result in court after alleging vote rigging.

Judges are due to rule on the case on Friday.

Malawian news site Zodiak Online has been tweeting photos from the demonstration in Lilongwe, the capital:

The US embassy in Uganda's capital, Kampala, has issued a warning, external about rumours of a possible attack in "areas frequented by expats".

But it adds that there is "no substantiating evidence of the threat or information on the timing".

The warning echoes a similar statement issued by the US embassy in Tanzania on Wednesday evening.