Tamasin Ford & Russell Newlove
BBC World Business Report, São Tomé and Príncipe

The tiny archipelago of São Tomé and Príncipe was once the world's biggest exporter of cocoa, but now it focuses on quality over quantity because it can no longer compete with larger nations.

"We decided to produce organic cocoa only," President Carlos Vila Nova tells the BBC, explaining that buyers have to place their orders years in advance.

"In my opinion, that's the way [forward] for agriculture. We have to focus on gourmet, because we don’t have the quantity."

Cocoa production on the twin islands of São Tomé and Príncipe is a legacy rooted in slavery and colonialism.

The Portuguese forced slaves to work the previously uninhabited land from the 15th Century onwards, then in the 19th and 20th Centuries, plantations began producing coffee and cocoa that was farmed by the slaves and later by forced, exploited islanders.

Cadburys, Rowntrees, Fry's and other chocolate manufacturers bought their beans from São Tomé until an exposé of horrific ,slave-like working conditions appeared in US magazine Harper's.

By the 1920s, companies had switched their source of beans to Ghana and Ivory Coast - ending São Tomé’s ignominious title as the biggest cocoa exporter in the world.

Now there is a growing focus on tree-to-bar chocolate, something that the big manufacturers have always said is too costly and difficult to do in West Africa.

"By keeping it in the country we not only add value to the product by transforming it into chocolate but we also create jobs," says agronomist Fegegta Tadele Yidmekatchew who works for a French company called the Kennyson group, which has owned the Roça de Diogo Vaz plantation in north-western of São Tomé for several decades.

"I think if that's not done [by other companies] it's mostly because people aren't willing to make the investment or pay a little bit more for the chocolate or cocoa."

You may also be interested in:

• Pop stars Calema on their 'magical' São Tomé childhood
• A quick guide to São Tomé and Príncipe
• Fighting the vanilla thieves of Madagascar
• Cameroon's 'protected' Penja pepper

"We're traumatised, we can't even eat," one South African woman says after her house was destroyed.

Former Everton striker Daniel Amokachi recalls the moment when he boldly subbed himself on during an FA Cup semi-final.

The UK scheme to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda has been described by critics as "cruel".

Samba Cyuzuzo
BBC Great Lakes

Muslims marking the holy month of Ramadan in Rwanda are not being summoned by early morning calls to prayer, and may never be again.

Last month the authorities banned the use of loudspeakers on mosques in the early hours of the day, saying they violated noise pollution laws that forbid noise over 55 decibels in the day and 45 decibels at night in residential areas.

"The decision violated our rights to practise our faith," says 55-year-old Zaina Mukamabano who lives in the capital city, Kigali. She says it's the first time in her life that there's been no call to prayer, or "adhan" as it is called in Arabic, in the mornings during Ramadan.

The practice of attaching loudspeakers to the minarets on mosques began in Asia in the 1930s and spread across the globe. Five calls are made per day, to summon the faithful for their five daily prayers.

Rwandan authorities say that residents had complained about the earliest call to prayer - which happens between 04:30 and 04:49 and lasts about two or three minutes.

"We are not happy… during Ramadan it is adhan which tells us that it is time to start fasting, and not all Muslims in Rwanda have alarm clocks," says another resident, Nuhu Bihibindi.

Ms Mukamabano says the government could have told mosques to simply turn down the volume, "just like they tell bars to limit the volume on their music".

"Adhan is our culture, it is our faith, banning it is upsetting Muslims, not having it during Ramadan is more painful," she says.

Another Kigali resident, Issa Karim Mugabo, says he and others are now considering taking the government to court.

But Sheikh Souleiman Mbarushimana, an advisor to Rwanda's mufti, or Islamic scholar, says Muslim leaders had already discussed the matter with the government and agreed upon the decision.

"Muslims say their right to faith was violated… but the authorities have told us [the morning call to prayer] is banned for the common good," Mr Mbarushimana says.

"We said that we have to agree and move on, because our faith also calls us to respect the authorities' decision."

DJ Edu
Presenter of This Is Africa on BBC World Service

Image source, Courtesy of Sauti Sol

Sauti Sol are one of Africa's most successful bands.

The Kenyan outfit have been together for 15 years, which is quite a feat in the modern music scene.

Their hits include Suzanna, Melanin and My Everything on which they collaborated with Grammy award-winning African-American singer India Arie.

They grabbed a Grammy of their own last year as producers on Burna Boy's album Twice as Tall. It won the award for best global music album, making Burna Boy the first solo Nigerian artist to win one.

Formed back in 2005 as an acapella group, Sauti Sol have grown and developed and enjoyed international success, packing out venues wherever they go.

Band members Bien-Aimé Baraza, Willis Chimano and Savara Mudigi met in secondary school, later hooking up with guitarist Polycarp Otieno. They released their debut album in 2008 and told me how they first got together:

To make sure that everything stays on track, the band have a life coach and conduct therapy sessions.

They released their latest album Midnight Train when pandemic restrictions were still in place, and describe their return to live performance as exciting and humbling.

Sauti Sol have stuck to their core sound throughout a time of change across the African music industry, sticking with their close harmonies and rhumba influence even if it wasn't necessarily the popular thing to do.

Having won their Grammy the group are keen to thank Burna Boy for allowing them to be part of his journey, but also their fans.

During the coronavirus lockdown the band members each embarked on individual releases. They called the project "alone together".

Sauti Sol will be releasing their latest group album together in May.

To hear the full interview with Sauti Sol - as well as an acoustic set played in studio - listen to This is Africa on BBC World Service radio and partner stations across Africa, or online here: bbcworldservice.com/thisisafrica

Retired colonel Guy Deacon is filming his trip in a bid to raise awareness of the disease in Africa.

Andrew Griffith, the PM's policy chief in Number 10, says the Rwanda plan should be 'implemented' in 'weeks'.

A selection of the best photos from across Africa and beyond this week.

Some of those arriving on small boats will be sent to the country as part of a £120m trial.

Some asylum seekers arriving in the UK will be sent to Rwanda but what's in the deal for the two nations?

After winning the NBA's scoring title, can Cameroonian centre Joel Embiid help end Philadelphia 76ers' long wait for a championship?

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team. There will be an automated news feed here until after the Easter break.

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 a photo of Egyptian confectioner Mostafa Anwar making a dessert called "Kunafa" at his stall in the capital Cairo:

Image source, Getty Images

Rwanda's foreign minister says most asylum seekers will be welcomed - but there are some exceptions.

Image source, Getty Images

More than 340 people are now known to have died in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal in the worst flooding in decades.

The provincial premier, Sihle Zikalala, said that almost 41,000 people had been affected around the city of Durban.

Days of torrential rain washed away homes, roads and bridges, prompting the government to declare a state of disaster on Wednesday.

Electricity and water has been restored to some areas, but authorities are urging patience with relief teams stretched to capacity.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has blamed climate change for the disaster.

Image source, Reuters

Somalia's newly elected MPs have been sworn in after a long-delayed and chaotic voting process that was marred by a power struggle between the president and his prime minister.

Almost 300 MPs took the oath of office in a ceremony inside the heavily guarded airport zone in the capital, Mogadishu.

"We have faced challenges and endured attempts to stop us from reaching this day but I am very happy that I am witnessing this occasion today," Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble said at the ceremony, AFP news agency reports.

On Twitter, President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo hailed the event as historic.

Read more: Somalia's elections - where the people don't vote

French fuel supplier Rubis - which is at the centre of a row with the Kenyan government - has denied increasing its export sales to the detriment of the Kenyan market.

Kenya has been hit by fuel shortages since last week. Government officials have blamed the shortage on oil marketing companies, accusing them of hoarding supplies ahead of a price hike.

The government has targeted Rubis, deporting its Kenya chief executive Jean-Christian Bergeron.

In a statement, Rubis said he had returned to the head office in Paris "to give a full update on the situation of the subsidiary", Reuters news agency reports.

"Rubis Energy Kenya is making its best efforts to supply the market and is fully transparent with the authorities," the statement added.

An ally of The Gambia's former ruler Yahya Jammeh has been sworn in as parliamentary speaker following his nomination by President Adama Barrow.

In his maiden speech, Fabakary Tombong Jatta called for parliament to be the embodyment of nation-building and a beacon of hope.

His appointment as speaker came after Mr Barrow reached a deal with the Mr Jammeh's Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Consruction (APRC).

Mr Jammeh fled into exile in January 2017 after being defeated by Mr Barrow in elections.

Mr Barrow won a second term last year after announcing a pact with the APRC.

His National Peoples Party won the highest number of seats in parliamentary elections held last week.

Under Gambia's political system, the president can give five parliamentary seats to unelected members, as well as nominating the chamber's speaker, Reuters news agency reports.

Mr Jatta - who is the leader of the APRC - expressed his "special gratitude" to the president for nominating him.

You can watch the full speech here:

Visitors to Rwanda are often impressed by its efficiency, but should be careful what they say.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

Officials in Nigeria say more than 4,000 people have fled their homes following a devastating attack by gunmen on several villages in the central Plateau state.

At least four communities were targeted by attackers on motorbikes last Sunday, killing more than 150 people and burning down dozens of homes.

An MP from the region, Yusuf Adamu Gagdi, told the BBC the displaced people had fled to other towns and villages.

On Tuesday MPs urged President Muhammadu Buhari to send more security forces to the area as well as to establish permanent military bases there.

Nigeria is struggling to cope with a wave of violence by armed gangs, that carry out killings and kidnappings for ransom, mostly in unprotected rural communities.