Image source, Saray Khumalo

The first black African woman to have climbed Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, has spoken about the death of a fellow climber on her team.

"He died after the summit when we were coming down, unfortunately... he fell off," Saray Khumalo told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme.

More than 300 people have died attempting to reach the summit since Sir Edmund Hilary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay first conquered the mountain in 1953.

"I know that the mountains are dangerous but our roads are dangerous. You can’t run away from death, but it would be sad if it found you doing what you don’t like doing," she said.

Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Sibusiso Moyo has said that "everybody has the right to express dissatisfaction against the government" but they should not instigate violence.

He was referring to leading opposition member Job Sikhala being charged with with subverting a constitutional government by alluding to the "overthrow" of President Emmerson Mnangagwa before the next elections.

Speaking to the BBC's Newsday programme, Mr Moyo said that the nation was "going through a very fragile period" and advocating unconstitutional action was wrong.

Mr Sikhala is expected to appear in court on Wednesday for a bail hearing.

Zimbabwe is currently experiencing its worst economic crisis of the past decade, says the BBC's Shingai Nyoka in Harare.

President Mnangagwa came to power amid optimism following the ousting of long-time leader President Robert Mugabe.

But Mr Moyo insisted that the current pain was the result of economic mismanagement.

"This is the listening government," he said "because what is happening at the moment is that it is going to be painful to go out of two decades of a depressed economy.

"We’re looking at improving the situation for the betterment of the people of Zimbabwe."

Listen to the interview:

Image source, Getty Images

The South African arm of steelmaker ArcelorMittal expects to cut more than 2,000 jobs, reports Reuters news agency.

ArcelorMittal South Africa has been complaining about cheap imports affecting their sales for some time.

High costs for power, rail and port use, as well as raw materials have also worsened their situation, the company is quoted as saying.

ArcelorMittal South Africa employed around 8,850 people in 2018, according to its annual report for that year, adds Reuters.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Credit rating agency Moody’s has warned that political tensions in Ethiopia could greatly impact the country’s economic growth.

Moody’s said that last month’s alleged failed coup attempt in Amhara state was an example of how the country’s economy is susceptible to domestic political risks.

“Risks are unlikely to dissipate in the run-up to elections scheduled for 2020, as the government's reform agenda risks exacerbating ethnic tensions in some parts of the country,” said Moody's Kelvin Dalrymple.

He warned that the tensions could have a direct impact on investor confidence.

Ethiopia is one of Africa’s fastest growing economies. This week the government predicted that the economy would grow by 9.2%, a 1.5 percentage points higher than last year.

Elisha Abbo, the Nigerian senator involved in a fight in a sex shop in the capital, Abuja, refused to be placed under oath when he appeared before a panel set up by his fellow senators.

People invited to give evidence before senate committees in Nigeria are made to pledge that they will tell the truth before they are allowed to testify, but Mr Abbo refused.

Online newspaper Premium Times, external quotes him as saying: “This matter is in court. I cannot be talking in front of cameras when the matter is already in court. That’s sub-judice.”

This led to a shouting match between Mr Abbo and Oluremi Tinubu, a female senator on the panel.

Senator Abbo was seen in a viral video, external hitting a woman at a sex toy shop and has been charged with assault. He has said that the video had been "doctored" and that he had been hit first.

Image source, Getty Images

French missiles found in a base used by militants loyal to Gen Khalifa Haftar were not intended for Libyans, the French military has said.

Four US-made Javellin missiles were discovered in the Libyan base last month.

The French military have now said that they had obtained the missiles from the US and had taken them to Libya for their own counter-terrorism unit.

The missiles became damaged and they were stored temporarily in a depot, they say.

The next stage is unclear, but the French military deny giving them to local forces.

But last month, forces working for the UN-recognised government in Libya found the missiles in the base linked to Gen Haftar, who they are fighting.

The authorities in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, have announced that they will provide free uniforms and free exercise books to all pupils in state funded schools from September at a cost of $10.4m (£8.4m).

There are 600,000 pupils who will benefit, the authorities say.

Currently tuition is free but parents must pay for the uniforms and exercise books. This amounts to an estimated $17 per pupil, a cost that is difficult to meet for some families.

Four sets of uniforms will be designed, one for children in kindergarten, one for those in grades one to four, one for grades five to eight and one for grades nine to 12.

Ferdinand Omondi
BBC Africa, Nairobi

Image source, EPA

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has cited state violence and abuse of power as the final tipping points that lead to terrorism.

Speaking during the opening of the UN counter terrorism conference in Kenya, Mr Guterres said that while extremism could not be justified, the world must acknowledge it does not rise in a vacuum.

He cited human rights violations and bad governance as some reasons that trigger radicalisation.

All UN member states have been invited to the conference to discuss how to prevent and counter rising terrorism across the world.

Leocadia Bongben
BBC Pidgin, Yaounde

The US has banned the most senior official in Cameroon's paramilitary force, Col Jean Claude Ango Ango and his wife Engono Akomo from entering the country over "his involvement in significant corruption related to wildlife trafficking", a US statement says.

The US State Department , externalsaid the ban "sends a strong signal that the United States is committed to fighting corruption and combating the transnational crime of wildlife trafficking to preserve our world’s iconic species".

It is not clear exactly what Col Ango Ango is alleged to have done. He has not commented on the allegations.

Col Ango Ango was appointed inspector general of Cameroon's gendarmerie in March.

The central African country is home to some of the world's endangered species like the pangolin, but the UN says lax penalties for wildlife crime, external, encourages illegal hunting of animals in the region.

The two Malawian rights activists detained over alleged fraud have denied the charges, a friend of theirs has told reporter Peter Jegwa.

The activists, Gift Trapence and MacDonald Sembereka, have been key figures behind nationwide protests demanding the resignation of the head of election management body, Jane Ansah.

National police spokesman, James Kadadzera, says the two are suspected to have received money from UNAids to organise a workshop, but that the workshop did not take place.

The two say their arrest is a ploy by government to silence them.

Mr Trapence and Rev Sembereka are key leaders of the Human Rights Defenders Coalition which has been organising demonstrations demanding electoral justice.

They believe the Malawi Electoral Commission mismanaged last May’s polls and want its head, Jane Ansah to step down or be fired.

They were due to hold a press conference on Wednesday to announce next course of action in view of Ms Ansah still being in the job after the latest round of protests last Friday.

Image source, AFP

The vice-president of the Burundian football association, FFB, has been arrested pending an investigation after the apparent disappearance of bonus money for the national team players who were recently in Egypt for the Africa Cup of Nations finals.

The BBC understands that Aimable Habimana, also known as Marandura, has been placed under arrest since Saturday.

The BBC has tried to speak to the Burundian police without success, but a member of the Burundian FA, who preferred to stay anonymous, confirmed the story.

The same person said that Mr Habimana was arrested together with two other employees while investigations are being carried out.

Burundi, which was taking part in its first Afcon finals, were eliminated in the group stage.

Shingai Nyoka
BBC Africa, Harare

Zimbabwe’s civil servants have rejected an offer of a 25% increase in wages for the lowest paid workers.

Salaries were raised in April but government employees demanded a second increase to protect themselves against rampant inflation.

Under President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who took power in 2017, Zimbabwe is facing its worst economic crisis in 10 years.

The government's offer is not as generous as it may first sound.

The government said it will spend $21m (£16.8m) spread over six months, which amounts to an $11 monthly increase for workers.

Teachers, for example, had pressed for a 10-fold wage increase, which would give the lowest paid worker $460 a month.

One union leader told the BBC the offer could spark industrial action. President Emmerson Mnangagwa is facing widespread discontent for failing to stem the economic slide.

Zimbabwe has 18-hour power cuts, fuel shortages and near 100% inflation.

The civil servants are expected to meet on Wednesday to discuss a way forward.

They could join other trades unions who had already resolved to strike later this month.

Image source, Getty

Nduka Orjinmo
BBC Pidgin

Long before the first ball is kicked in Wednesday's quarter-final matches at the African Nations Cup, fans of Nigeria and South Africa are already at it.

Off the pitch, the two countries compete for the claim to be the continent's economic super power, but they now seem to be building up a football rivalry and because this is 2019, the conflict is getting additional fuel from social media.

On Twitter, competing fans are poking fun at each other and the South Africans are not impressed:

One South African fan has taken it upon himself to remind Nigeria how in the last round the team belittled Egyptian giants, including Premier League joint-top scorer Mohamed Salah:

One South Africa TV channel has dubbed the Nigerian team the "Super Egos", but one Nigerian fan brushes this off and says the Egos will win:

Nigerian fans are also having a go at re-christening the other team, renaming Bafana Bafana as "banana banana", which can easily be eaten:

Nigeria dispatched old foes Cameroon while South Africa knocked-out hosts Egypt, to set up the last eight encounter.

Incidentally, both sides were drawn in the same qualifying group. South Africa shocked Nigeria with a 2-0 away win but they drew 1-1 in Johannesburg.

Nigeria missed the chance of defending their title in 2015 when they were eliminated from the qualifiers in a group that also had South Africa. In qualifying for that competition the teams played out two draws (0-0 and 2-2) and Bafana Bafana topped the group, with Nigeria finishing third.

But when it comes to clashes at Afcon finals, it's the Super Eagles who have the upper hand. They have beaten South Africa twice - in 2000 and 2004.

Wednesday's other quarter final sees Benin take on Senegal.

Authorities in Libya have released refugees and migrants from the detention centre that was bombed in Tajoura, near Tripoli, last week, the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) says.

More than 50 people died in the attack that was blamed on an air strike by forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar. But Gen Haftar's forces accused the government side of shelling the centre.

Most of the dead are believed to be sub-Saharan Africans who were attempting to reach Europe from Libya.

In a statement, the UNHCR in Libya says the authorities have allowed the refugees and migrants to be relocated

In all more than 310 people will be moved.

The UNHCR said it hopes that 260 of the group, who were moved on Tuesday, will eventually be found a place in an open centre where they are free to come and go.

The agency has also identified 55 of the "most vulnerable refugees" who will be taken on Wednesday to what it calls a departure facility before they are transferred to a third country.

Read more:

• Who is Libya's Khalifa Haftar?
• Why is Libya so lawless?
• Libya country profile

Image source, Reuters

Police in Malawi have detained two Malawian rights activists who helped organise recent protests over the recent re-election of Peter Mutharika, AFP news agency and local media are reporting.

Gift Trapence and Reverend MacDonald Sembereka are being held over allegations of fraud and stealing money from Aids programmes, AFP quotes police spokesman James Kadadzera as saying.

"What I can confirm is that they we have a complainant in the form of UNAids who came to lodge a grievance with the police," Mr Kadadzera told AFP.

"While I do not have the actual figures, I can confirm that the money runs into millions of Malawi kwachas."

Mr Trapence is vice chairman of the Human Rights Defenders Coalition and Rev Sembereka is a member of the group, which has been behind a series of demonstrations over how the presidential elections in May were run.

Mr Mutharika, who first became president in 2014, was narrowly elected to a second term in office with 38.5% of the vote. But the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) said there had been vote-rigging.

Image source, Getty Images

Wednesday's African proverb:

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

BBC Africa Live
Nduka Orjinmo & Damian Zane & Dickens Olewe

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 check BBCAfrica.com.

A reminder of our wise words of the day:

Click here and scroll to the bottom to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this picture of soldiers of South Sudan's army parading in the streets of the capital, Juba, during Independence Day celebrations.

Image source, AFP

Shots have been fired outside Nigeria's National Assembly putting the area into a lockdown as police clashed with Shia Muslim protesters.

It is not clear who fired the shots or whether anyone has been injured, news agency Reuters reports.

Protesters from Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), a group that represents Nigeria's minority Shia Muslims, had tried to enter the parliament compound, sparking the confrontation with police, state news channel NTA reported.

Police have not commented on allegations that two protesters were killed.

The IMN regularly hold protests against the detention of their leader Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, which often result in violent clashes with the security services.

Sheikh Zakzaky was arrested in 2015 after an alleged attempt to kill the army chief.

He was held without charge until April 2018 when he accused in court of inciting violence. The case continues.

Read: Meeting Sheikh Zakzaky

Shingai Nyoka
BBC Africa, Harare

A leading opposition MP in Zimbabwe has been charged with subverting a constitutional government by alluding to the "overthrow" of President Emmerson Mnangagwa before the next elections.

Job Sikhala, who serves as the vice-chair of the main opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), could face up to 20 years in jail in convicted for his comments made at a rally over the weekend.

His lawyer says he denies the charges.

In a video recording, Mr Sikhala says that the MDC wants to give the ruling Zanu-PF party "headaches".

"The war and the fight we’re going to take to the doorsteps of Emmerson Mnangagwa. We’re going to overthrow him before 2023. That’s not a joke… We can’t have a government that keeps intimidating citizens in their homes," he told supporters.

The MDC and its leader Nelson Chamisa continue to contest President Mnangagwa’s 2018 election victory and have refused to recognise his presidency.

But the MDC described Mr Sikhala's comments as “his own personal opinions, which we believe have been misconstrued and misinterpreted".

"The MDC wishes to state unequivocally that it has always submitted itself to the cardinal values of legality, constitutionalism and democracy. Any attempt to portray the MDC in any other way is disingenuous and unfortunate," the party said.

Mr Sikhala is expected to appear in court on Wednesday for a bail hearing.

Over the years the state has struggled to secure a conviction on the subversion charge. Critics say the law has been used to silence the opposition.