Kennedy Gondwe
BBC News, Lusaka

Zambia’s anti-corruption body has handed to the state about $4m (£3m) that it recovered from suspected proceeds of crime.

The money will now be given to the Ministry of Education to help more than 2,000 students in need of bursaries, the Minister of Finance Situmbeko Musokotwane has said.

The announcement was made at an event attended by Mr Musokotwane, Education Minister Douglas Syakalima and officials from the Anti-Corruption Commission.

Money was found last year in a house belonging to journalist Margaret Musonda, also known as Faith Musonda, and was subsequently forfeited to the state as part of a deal for her not to be prosecuted.

Ms Musonda also lost her house in which the money was found.

Bizuwork Olana
BBC News, Addis Ababa

Seven people have died after an illegal mine collapsed on Tuesday morning in Gololcha district in Ethiopia's Oromia region.

Eleven more people were taken to hospital, some with serious injuries, local authorities told the BBC.

The victims were residents who had dug deep shafts in an area where Ethiopia's mining ministry had been prospecting for minerals.

A local official said that after residents became aware of this, they started digging illegal mines hoping that they would find some minerals.

"No mineral has been found from that place yet,” the local official added.

Guy Bandolo
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

Women are most affected by the Anglophone crisis which erupted in Cameroon in 2017, according to a report published by the International Crisis Group (ICG) on Wednesday.

About 60% of internally displaced people are women and children, the report said.

Many of them are also victims of torture and sexual abuse.

The military and armed separatists’ groups use rape as a weapon of war, the report added.

The ICG said the government should also intensify efforts to prosecute perpetrators of sexual violence.

It also said separatists should indefinitely suspend school boycotts and refrain from coercing women into support roles in militia camps.

The Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has debunked what local media describe as a "viral" fake statement warning Nigerians to avoid travelling to six countries amid escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

The countries included Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova

"The ministry strongly condemns this mischievous act and urges the general public to disregard the content of the fake press release," the ministry said in a Twitter statement.

Yasine Mohabuth
Port Louis, Mauritius

Image source, Defimedia.info

Three Taiwanese boats ran aground in Mauritian waters on Wednesday on the reefs of Pointe-aux-Sables and Bain-des-dames, with some 40 crew members now rescued.

The Taiwanese Wen Hang Dar 168 ran into trouble in the early hours of the morning at Pointe-aux-Sables, around 10km (six miles) off Port Louis Harbour with 81 tonnes of fuel in its tanks.

The vessel, which is 37m (212 ft) long, had 25 crew members on board. A request for assistance was made at 06:55 local time (02:55 GMT) this morning.

Some crew members from two of the boats jumped into the water at Bain-des-Dames, also in Port Louis.

They were rescued by National Coast Guard officers and were brought to safety in Port Louis Harbour.

Other crew members who remained on board were evacuated by members of the helicopter squadron and transported to the police headquarters.

Some sustained minor injuries.

Currently oil booms are being deployed as there is the risk of an oil leak.

But no leak has been detected so far, according to Mauritius' Fisheries and Ocean Economy minister Sudheer Maudhoo.

Recently some boats have found themselves trapped on the reefs in Mauritius, the most famous being the MV Wakashio, which created an ecological disaster on the Indian Ocean island.

Image source, Laura McCullagh

The International Public Arts Festival (IPAF), which organisers describe as the continent's "largest" street art festival, kicks off on Wednesday for its sixth edition in Cape Town.

The artwork on display will feature some multi-storey public art from 15 different artists, whose murals will add to the 133 large-scale ones already installed in previous editions of the festival.

"During this time, when the tourism industry is steadily recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, the festival is contributing to this revival by hosting tours and providing work opportunities for local tour guides," the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith, said.

IPAF runs until Sunday.

Image source, Laura McCullagh

Senegal's President Macky Sall opens a new 50,000-seat stadium in Diamniadio, which is named after former president Abdoulaye Wade.

Image source, AFP

A powerful member of Sudan's ruling sovereign council, Gen Mohamed Hamdan "Hemeti" Dagalo, flew to Moscow on Wednesday for talks with senior officials there.

According to Sudanese sources, Gen Hemeti, the commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), is expected to meet President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The visit is expected to focus on bilateral ties as well as regional issues.

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which is a paramilitary group, is suspected of maintaining interests with the Russian mercenary group Wagner, whose operatives are allegedly active in Sudan.

Russia has interests in establishing a naval supply base on the Sudanese Red Sea coast. A handful of Russian companies are active in the gold mining sector there.

Nichola Mandil
BBC News, Juba

Image source, AFP

South Sudan's neighbours are worried that the country is "still bleeding" from communal violence, despite the signing of a peace accord in 2020 by President Salva Kiir and his rival Riek Machar.

The East African body, Igad, said the peace deal is facing challenges, including unresolved issues on drafting a new constitution and preparing for elections.

“Igad as a region cannot be at peace when South Sudan is shedding blood. I would really like to appeal to the international community to stand with the people of South Sudan in supporting the peace process," Igad's special envoy for South Sudan, Ismail Wais, told diplomats in the capital, Juba.

It was hoped the transitional government formed after the peace deal would bring an end to conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions.

Its term ends next year.

Early this month, President Salva Kiir announced that elections would be held without conducting a census, something that Mr Machar, now the first vice president, has opposed.

Mr Machar said elections could only be conducted after a unified national army was formed, a new constitution was written, a census was conducted and millions of refugees in neighbouring countries were allowed to return home to vote in the elections.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, Getty Images

Hackers say thy have regained control of more than 30 websites in Mozambique, after the government said it had repelled an attack on Monday.

A group called “Yemeni Hackers” said they were behind the latest attack.

The hackers said they had “completely infiltrated” 34 ministries, including the defence ministry.

Others targeted were the portals of the national disaster management, roads administration and water agencies, as well as the defence ministry and the national land transport institute.

The hackers threatened to release confidential data if there ransom demands were not met.

Erminio Jasse, the head of Mozambique’s National Institute of Electronic Government, had on Monday said that no information was stolen.

The government is expected to give an update again on Wednesday.

Image source, AFP

Ugandan author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, who fled the country a fortnight ago, has arrived in Germany, his lawyer has told the AFP news agency.

"He arrived in Germany this morning," Eron Kiiza was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

The lawyer termed the development a "big relief".

The award-winning writer fled the East African nation after being granted bail by a court.

He had sought permission to leave the country to seek treatment for injuries he says he sustained while in detention.

But the court refused to give the novelist his passport.

Rukirabashaija was arrested in December and charged with offensive communication for making unflattering remarks about President Yoweri Museveni and his son on Twitter. He denied the charges.

His trial is meant to begin on 23 March.

Mr Kiiza told AFP that the writer fled by walking to neighbouring Rwanda and then travelled to a third country, from where the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, facilitated his journey to Germany.

Rukirabashaija won the Pen Pinter Prize for an international writer of courage , externalin 2021.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, EPA

Tropical Cyclone Emnati made a landfall in south-eastern Madagascar on Tuesday night with winds of 135 km/h (84 mph), raising fears of continued destruction on the already devastated island.

Emnati is the fifth extreme weather event and the fourth major storm to make landfall on the Indian Ocean island nation over the past month.

Previous storms have displaced thousands and killed hundreds since mid-January.

The UN on Tuesday said that communities hardest hit by the previous cyclone, Batsirai, in early February were likely to be affected again.

The authorities fear that heavy rains, flooding and strong winds in areas already battered could lead to “enormous and widespread damage".

The southern African nations of Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia have been experiencing extreme weather as a result of Tropical Cyclone Dumako over the past week.

Issa Abdull
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, AFP

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) may cease its support programme to Somalia in the next three months if scheduled elections face further delays.

An essential military wages funding deal could also be on the chopping board.

The debt relief programme needs to be reviewed by 17 May by a new government, according to IMF's mission chief for Somalia, Laura Jaramillo Mayor.

The deal will see Somalia's debt fall to $560m (£400m) from $5.2bn in 2018.

In the first phase of the programme in 2020, the debt was reduced to $3.7bn

It's expected the debt reduction would allow the country to attract more funding and aid from international partners to develop its private sector.

Elections in Somalia are long overdue - they were initially slated for November 2020, but have since been postponed twice due to disagreements on the mode of conducting the polls.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Eighteen civilians in Niger have been killed in a militant attack in the west of the country, the government says.

It said armed bandits on motorbikes attacked a truck transporting people between two villages in the Tillaberi region.

Western Niger - like neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso - has for years faced militant attacks, despite the efforts of international forces deployed to the wider Sahel region to fight the Islamist insurgents.

Both Niger's neighbours now have military governments after army chiefs ousted civilian administrations, saying they had failed to tackle insurgencies.

Our proverb of the day:

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A Kenyan proposal hopes to cut the airplay time for foreign music to allow local artists to thrive.

Zambia and Senegal qualify for the 2022 Women's Africa Cup of Nations, eliminating Namibia and Mali in the process.

As Kenyans take to social media to lament rising costs, we look at what is behind the rising cost of living.

That's all from the BBC Africa Live team for now. We'll be back on Wednesday morning with the latest news updates from around the continent.

In the meantime you can find keep up to date by checking the BBC News website, or listening to our Africa Today podcast.

A reminder of our wise words of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

We leave you with a photo of Spanish artist Manolo Mesa working on a massive mural in Cape Town, South Africa, ahead of the opening of the International Public Art Festival on Wednesday:

Image source, EPA

Issa Abdull
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, Getty Images

Somalia’s militant Islamist group al-Shabab spent $24m (£18m) in 2021 on purchasing weapons, according to a report by a Mogadishu-based research group, the Hiraal Institute.

The report further alleges that al-Shabab, which is affiliated to al-Qaeda, has an annual revenue collection of about $180m.

Entitled Al-Shabab’s Arsenal - From Taxes to Terror, the report says the group uses various methods to procure weapons, including direct purchases from local black markets, and from arms traders contracted to buy and deliv­er weapons from abroad, mainly Yemen.

The Hiraal institute also says that the insurgents control large parts of Somalia and maintain a degree of influence on the populace through a mix of persuasion, administration and coercion.

The authors recommend several measures aimed at disrupting al-Shabab's weapons acquisition and movement, including countering arms imports from the Gulf of Aden.