BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, AFP

A prosecutor in Guinea has ordered the seizure of the assets of two Guinean businessmen of Lebanese descent who have been accused of being linked to funding militant group Hezbollah.

Guinea's prosecutor Alphonse Charles Wright did not elaborate on whether Ali Saade and Ibrahim Taher were under arrest.

The seizure order comes after the two were sanctioned by the US Treasury for alleged money laundering and financing of terrorism over their links with Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shia group in Lebanon.

The US Treasury said the action was "aimed at disrupting Hezbollah’s business network in West Africa".

Issa Abdull
BBC Africa business reporter

Image source, Mohamud Arab

A Somali businessman who fled Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, has arrived in Germany where he is seeking asylum "to start a new life".

Mohamud Arab used to run a profitable business in Kyiv, exporting second-hand clothes and electronics to several African countries.

But soon after Russian forces invaded the country, he hired a car and headed for the Ukraine-Poland border. He arrived in Kassel city in central Germany on Sunday after more days on the road from the Polish capital, Warsaw.

He is now struggling to make ends meet and relies on support from his family.

“I don’t have access to my bank account in Kyiv. I have been supported financially by close friends and family,” he said.

His debit cards can only be used in Ukraine, and as a foreigner living in Kyiv, he could not operate his account virtually as the law prohibits foreigners from using internet or mobile banking - a measure aimed at curbing money laundering.

In seeking asylum in Germany, Mr Arab hopes to register himself through the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) and gain access to his bank accounts back in Ukraine.

“I can’t imagine that just the other day I had a profitable export business together with my partners, but now all is gone. We left everything there, I only left with a suitcase."

Trade with Ukraine has since ceased as vessels have stopped calling on ports there.

“I have been in Ukraine for about six years, dealing in the import and export business of second-hand products; maybe now everything will be destroyed. It’s a difficult situation," Mr Arab said.

“I have 150 employees in Ukraine, and my operations have been worth about $300,000 (£230,000) a month,” he added.

The UN estimates that more than two million people have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian onslaught.

Image source, Saf

An exhibition has opened in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, showcasing eight female photographers who work in the city.

The Through My Lens show was launched by the Somali Arts Foundation (Saf), external.

Here is a selection of the works being exhibited.

Deka Ali Hashi focuses on education, photographing girls at a secondary school in Mogadishu’s Hodan district.

This image, taken last year, is titled Besties.

Image source, Saf

Nuura Mohamoud Abdirahman also features friendship in her collection. She says women are generally not encouraged to be friends.

This work - Held by the hands of the community - is, according to Saf, about a girl “happy in the knowledge that all these hands are here to hold her in sisterhood”.

Image source, Saf

Negad Mohamoud Abdirahman explores the issue of beauty and the perils of skin whitening in the Instagram era.

This image has the title: A Somali woman applies a whitening cream that can cause cancer

Image source, Saf

Falastin Khalif Yuusuf shifts the view to female creativity and entrepreneurship, taking photos last year at a beauty salon that also trains women in the art of applying henna.

Image source, Saf

Henna is often applied to a bride’s hands in Somalia before her wedding, but Safio Mohamed Warsame looks at the darker side of child marriage.

Here she imagines the emotional turmoil of a girl who has been told she is to be married.

Image source, Saf

Sagal Ali Ibrahim looks at women in “survival mode” - working at market stalls.

This image, titled A lady with a tomato stall at Suuqa Beerta Market, was taken last year.

Image source, Saf

Hafsa Jaamac Shire is inspired by Somali women who venture into the male-dominated world of politics.

This photo is of a relative of hers who is an MP - seen out and about, rather than in a formal work setting.

Image source, Saf

In contrast, Maryam Ahmed Warsame prefers a vintage style to show women at work in places considered by Somalia's patriarchal society to be male domains.

Here she pictures female journalists in a studio last year.

Image source, Saf

You may also be interested in:

• IN PICTURES: Changing Somalia's focus
• WATCH: Somalia, sexism and me: Being a camerawoman in Mogadishu

Image source, AFP

The US state department has banned flamboyant Kenyan politician Mike Sonko and his family from travelling to the US over allegations of corruption while in office.

Mr Sonko was the governor of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, but was impeached in December 2020 over charges of abuse of office, gross violation of the constitution, gross misconduct and crimes against national law.

The US says while in office he "solicited bribes and kickbacks in exchange for awarding government contracts to his associates".

Mr Sonko on Tuesday denied the allegations and said he was being targeted wrongly.

He has been designated alongside his wife Primrose, daughters Salma and Saumu and an unnamed minor child.

Mr Sonko becomes the second Kenyan to be publicly banned from travelling to the US during President Uhuru Kenyatta’s era over corruption allegations.

In 2019, Busia Senator Amos Wako, who is a former Attorney General, was banned from the US over similar allegations, alongside his wife and son.

Read more:

• Kenya's Mike Sonko: The rise and fall of Nairobi's ex-governor

Our African proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

With large numbers of nurses emigrating, patient care is suffering as there are not enough staff.

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team. There will be an automated news feed here until we're back on Wednesday morning.

You can also keep up to date on the BBC News website, or by listening to the Africa Today podcast.

A reminder of our wise words of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this Instagram post by a Kenyan artist of people playing a game of poker:

Samba Cyuzuzo
BBC Great Lakes

Image source, Miss Rwanda

Jeannette Uwimana has become the first deaf contestant to take part in Rwanda's nation beauty pageant.

The 26-year-old from the south of the country is now in a boot camp with 20 others ahead of the Miss Rwanda finale in mid-March.

The annual contest is a popular event in Rwanda and followed eagerly on social media.

Her mother is not surprised by her success so far as she said that from her only daughter out of seven children had always been into fashion.

But previous attempts to participate in the pageant had been discouraged by those who questioned whether a deaf person was eligible for the competition.

In the preliminary rounds, Ms Uwimana used sign language, interpreted by her close friend Faïna Kabayiza, to communicate with the judges.

Image source, Miss Rwanda

Meghan Nimwiza, a spokesperson for the competition and a previous winner, said the organisers were proud that Miss Rwanda was more inclusive this year.

Ms Uwimana's participation has also been welcomed by the Rwanda's deaf community. More than 33,000 people registered as being deaf during Rwanda's last census in 2012.

The country has recently adopted a new law that sign language to be included in public communications.

Ms Uwimana thinks she is the best candidate to win the Miss Rwanda, telling the BBC: “I can confidently say that I possess all the requirements - beauty, brains and culture."

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, Samuel Otunla

Nigerian veterinary student Samuel Otunla, who earlier told the BBC about being trapped in the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, says he and other students are being evacuated.

“We are very pleased to be on the bus. It’s finally a relief to leave the city,” he told the BBC.

“So far we have spent nine hours on the road.

“The driver said he doesn’t know for sure where we’re heading - there’s just a whole convoy and he’s following that, but it appears it will be a city in the Poltavska region.”

He said the journey would usually be a three-hour drive.

“But because of the conditions of the ceasefire agreement, we have to pass through a different route,” he added.

Earlier, Nigeria’s foreign minister thanked the Ukrainian government for organising the buses - and said all Nigerian students had left the city.

Alfred Lasteck
BBC News, Dar es Salaam

Tanzanian opposition leader Freeman Mbowe has welcomed President Samia Suluhu's overtures to him days after state prosecutors dropped terrorism charges against him and several other people.

"When the court freed us, I received an invitation from President Samia. I accepted her invitation and it was a great honour to meet her," Mr Mbowe told a crowd of his supporters in the central town of Iringa.

State prosecutors began their investigation into Mr Mbowe before the death of President John Magufuli last March, but he was arrested and charged in July after Mrs Samia had taken over.

However, the 60-year-old Chadema leader said President Samia had promised him that all Tanzanians would now be treated equally, no matter what their political affiliation.

It was a chance for Tanzania to embrace a new approach to politics, he added.

The government spokesperson tweeted photos last Friday of President Samia meeting Mr Mbowe, saying they had discussed “matters of national interest”.

Pumza Fihlani
BBC News, Johannesburg

Police in South Africa are on high alert in Johannesburg's Alexandra Township following clashes between local residents and migrants from other African countries.

An organisation has been set up to try to stop foreign nationals running businesses in the area.

Members of the Alexandra Dudula movement say the migrants are in the country illegally and are taking away jobs from locals.

On Monday, residents fought some migrants who had tried to set up their businesses weeks after they had been forcibly closed down.

The tension is not new but has worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic as millions of South Africans have lost their jobs.

The Dudula movement has been criticised for encouraging xenophobia and violence, but its backers say they are protecting livelihoods.

Image source, AFP

A leading Sudanese politician, Babiker Faisal, has been detained - the latest in a series of arrests since October's overthrow of a power-sharing administration.

Mr Faisal, a member of the civilian coalition Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), had been part of a committee before the coup working to dismantle the regime of Omar al-Bashir and seize assets that were looted during his presidency. The long-time leader was overthrown after mass protests in April 2019.

Several other members of the committee have already been arrested on corruption charges.

On Monday, the security forces raided the offices of another independent committee that was investigating the shooting dead of more than 100 demonstrators in June 2019.

Correspondents say Sudan's military rulers appear to be undoing most of the reforms carried out after the overthrow of Mr Bashir.

In recent months, dozens of protesters against military rule have been killed by security forces and thousands injured in an ongoing wave of anti-coup demonstrations that swept the country since the military takeover.

You may also be interested in:

• Sudan protesters: Ready to die for freedom

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

A Nigerian student has just told me via WhatsApp that she is on a coach being evacuated from the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy.

Jessica said she was on a bus with other students.

Nigeria's Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama has also just tweeted his thanks, external to the Ukrainian government for providing the buses and to others for helping facilitate the evacuation. He said all Nigerian students had now left the city.

Jessica said she was not sure where they were heading. According to the Ukrainian authorities, other buses with evacuees are going to the central city of Poltava.

Earlier, Nigerian veterinary student Samuel Otunla told the BBC of the trauma he and others had faced being trapped in Sumy after the Russian military attacked the city.

• Trapped Nigerian on friendship and terror in Sumy

Image source, Reuters

Amelie Osborn-Smith says she wants to "give back" to those who helped her in Zambia.

Software developer Angela Mugo changed her line of work after repeatedly being denied a job as an electrical engineer.

An appeal is made against Kenya's withdrawal from Women's Africa Cup of Nations qualifying by players' union Fifpro and its Kenyan counterpart.

Alfred Lasteck
BBC News, Dar es Salaam

Tanzania's Serengeti National Park has shared a post on Instagram showing footage of a rare albino zebra.

Named Ndasiata after an area of the Serengeti where the foal was first seen, the eight-month-old is doing well, the park authorities say.

The young animal is thought to be one of the most fully albino zebras ever seen - much paler that others spotted in East Africa.

In contrast, a rare polka-dot zebra was born in neighbouring Kenya nearly three years ago.

Image source, AFP

It is thought that zebra had spots instead of stripes because of a melanin disorder - meaning she had an excess of melanin, the dark pigment found in skin.

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

Nigeria’s lower house of parliament has agreed to reconsider three of five rejected gender-equality bills after demonstrations across the country by hundreds of women.

Last week parliament rejected a bill that would have seen special additional seats created for women in national and state parliaments.

Singing songs and carrying placards on International Women’s Day, the protesters vowed to continue pushing until their demands were met.

Some of them marched to the parliament complex in the capital, Abuja, for the second time in a week. Photos of the demonstration have been shared on Twitter:

One of the protesters, Angwan Barbara James, told the BBC that Nigerian women deserved proper representation at all levels of government in what is still a patriarchal society.

You may be interested in:

• The Nigerian women leading the fight for change

Botswana's best chance of playing at the World Cup will come through women's football, according to the president of the country's football association.

Students from other countries spend thousands on education in Wales, but are turned away from jobs.