Peter Jegwa
Lilongwe, Malawi

Image source, Getty Images

Most Malawians think their government is doing a poor job fighting corruption, the Afrobarometer survey released on Thursday says.

President Lazarus Chakwera promised zero tolerance for corruption when he first took office in 2020, but Afrobarometer's findings suggest that up to two-thirds of Malawians believe his government is performing “fairly badly” or “very badly” in fighting corruption - and that over the past year corruption has, in fact, increased.

Afrobarometer is a pan-African research institution whose Malawi team is led by the Centre for Social Research, a department of the University of Malawi.

There has been no immediate reaction from the government, but in the past President Chakwera has said he remained committed to fighting corruption, saying proof of his commitment was his full backing and funding for the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

The research findings released in the capital, Lilongwe, have not come as a surprise.

In the past few months several groups have staged demonstrations across the country protesting against what they perceive as the government's failure to deal with corruption.

The influential Catholic Church also issued a damning statement in which they said the country's leadership was "weak and indecisive” and not doing enough to fight corruption.

Most of Somalia's new MPs are sworn in following an election in which the people did not vote.

Nichola Mandil
BBC News, Juba

Image source, Getty Images

South Sudan is not prepared for elections at the end of the transitional period in February 2023, the UN peacekeeping mission in the country has said.

The lack of logistical preparations and rampant insecurity in different parts of the country were the main issues that would undermine the electoral process, it added.

Last year, President Salva Kiir announced that elections would be conducted at the end of the transitional period.

But his main rival, First Vice-President Riek Machar, said elections could not be held until a series of conditions were met, including the formation of a unified army.

Mr Kiir and Mr Machar reached a deal earlier this week on sharing posts in the command structure of the military.

South Sudan has not held elections since its independence from Sudan in 2011.

Alfred Lasteck
BBC News, Dar es Salaam

Ride-hailing company Uber has suspended its operations in Tanzania, citing a tough regulatory environment as the reason.

"The guide fare set by the Land Transport Regulatory Authority has posed significant challenges for systems like Uber to continue to provide services to our customers," it said in a statement.

Uber was was launched in Tanzania in 2016.

According to the regulatory authority's director Gilliard Ngewe, Uber was not prepared to comply with its order that ride-hailing companies lower their service fee from 25% to 15%.

Mr Ngewe said that operators such as Bolt had complied.

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

Image source, Osinachi Nwachukwu Singing Ministry Int’l/Facebook

More than 9,000 people have signed an online petition , externaldemanding justice for popular Gospel singer Osinachi Nwachukwu and other alleged victims of domestic violence in Nigeria.

They are also calling for legislation to deal with domestic abuse.

Nwachukwu's death has outraged many Nigerians and has led to conversations around marriage, domestic violence and divorce.

Initially, the singer was said to have died of throat cancer, but friends and family alleged that she was the victim of domestic violence.

Her husband, Peter Nwachukwu is in police custody but has not been charged with any offence. Investigations are still ongoing.

Nigeria’s Minister of Women’s Affairs Pauline Tallen has promised to get justice for Nwachukwu.

There is no national law against domestic violence in Nigeria.

A Violence Against Persons Prohibition Act passed in 2015 applies only in Abuja, the capital.

It is not binding on the 36 states unless they pass it themselves. Twenty-eight states have adopted it so far.

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

We’re in this twin island nation in the Gulf of Guinea to find out what life is like in a country bearing the brunt of climate change.

As a tiny island nation, with the smallest economy in Africa, São Tomé and Principé is really at the sharp end of this crisis with very little money to tackle the massive problem.

Four per cent of the country’s land mass has already been lost to the Atlantic Ocean. For coastal communities, it is something that everyone talks about.

We visited Praia das Burras in Principé, where entire strips of houses have already been washed into the sea.

As 36-year-old fisherman Dionesio Neto Caleeb packs dried, smoked fish into hessian bags, he told me when he first arrived the silky golden sand we were standing on used to be forest.

“It was the waves that washed the trees away,” he says.

He points to a black volcanic rock jutting out of the sea about 20m (65ft) from the shore: “That used to be hidden under the sand.”

These islands were formed millions of years ago by volcanic activity deep underwater. Today, they are mountains and valleys covered in lush, tropical rainforest.

It’s breathtakingly beautiful and home to some of the most important biodiversity in Africa; endemic species of birds, amphibians and reptiles not found anywhere else on the planet.

More than two thirds of the islands are protected national parks and Príncipe is a Unesco biosphere because of its unique environment.

But is it possible to protect these wonders and have economic development at the same time?

“It’s difficult,” says President Carlos Vila Nova when we speak to him at the Palácio Cor de Rosa in São Tomé.

“Because our people, they say they don't eat biodiversity. That's true. But it's important for the world. And it's an honour for us to have it.”

São Tomé still has ambitions to find oil. It’s been searching for decades.

The president is asked what it would mean for the country’s climate goals if they found it. He laughs.

“We didn't find it yet, so I don't know,” he says. But if they do, it would be very welcome.

“I would like to increase the condition of life of my people. If it comes by the revenue from oil, then thank you.”

Lord Harrington tells the BBC the scheme is not his responsibility as it won't cover Ukrainian refugees.

Hakim Ziyech could still be welcomed back into the Morocco squad, according to the head of the country's football federation.

Victor Kiprop
BBC Africa Business reporter

The Kenyan government has confirmed the deportation of the French chief executive of one of the biggest oil marketers in Kenya amid a fuel shortage crisis.

Rubis Energy Kenya CEO Jean-Christian Bergeron was the first person to be sanctioned since Kenya's energy regulator said it would act against oil marketers creating what it says is an artificial shortage of fuel in the country.

Mr Bergeron has not yet commented.

According to the Energy Ministry, Kenya has sufficient stocks of petroleum products and the scarcity is a result of some oil markerters hoarding and prioritising exports to neighbouring countries. This amounts to economic sabotage, it said.

"The government will not tolerate any entity or person that is causing distress by creating an artificial problem. Any entity that is not ready or willing to work within the framework of the laws of Kenya is invited to vacate this market promptly," said Energy Minister Monica Juma.

The government said $295m (£225m) owed to oil marketers had been paid, while the remaining $121m would be paid later today.

Kenya has experienced countrywide fuel shortages over the last two weeks that have paralysed transport and economic activities.

The government says it expects normality to be restored within 72 hours.

Farida was born and raised in France, but she previously lived in the UK for 12 years.

Single men arriving in Britain on boats or lorries could be given a one-way ticket to Rwanda.

Lalla Sy
BBC News, Abidjan

Mali has released three Germans who were arrested by the army on Sunday, and labelled as "terrorism" suspects, Germany's foreign ministry has said.

The three - two men and a woman - were German workers of a non-governmental organisation.

They were arrested as part of an anti-terrorist operation near Diabaly in the central Segou region, where attacks by armed groups are common.

They were in the area for an agricultural project, as part of an arrangement between German and Malian authorities, diplomatic and security sources said.

Their presence there has raised concern, since it is where the Malian army and its Russian instructors were accused of committing atrocities last month.

They were transferred to the capital Bamako before being released.

Their release came amid a visit by Germany's foreign affairs minister, who has been in Mali since Tuesday.

BBC World Service

Britain has agreed a deal with Rwanda to relocate some asylum seekers to the central African country.

The Rwandan government will receive an initial payment of over $150m (£114m) to take part in the scheme.

The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has been giving details of the scheme which would see single men applying for refugee status sent 6,000km away to be resettled in Rwanda.

He said he was taking action to deter people smuggling.

The British government is under pressure to prevent thousands of people from making the perilous journey to southern England in small boats.

Charities have condemned the relocation plan as cruel and expressed concern about Rwanda's poor human rights record.

Police in South Africa have arrested at least 12 people over looting of business premises in the flood-hit coastal province of KwaZulu Natal, local outlets report.

Videos of looters raiding supermarkets have been circulating among social media users in the country.

On Tuesday, KwaZulu Natal premier condemned reports of looting of shipping containers which had washed up to a major highway following the heavy rains.

Sihle Zikalala warned that criminals will not be allowed to take advantage of the havoc.

Mohamud Ali
BBC Planning Editor, East Africa

Some of Somalia's newly elected members of parliament are set to be sworn in on Thursday in the capital, Mogadishu, following parliamentary elections that took months.

They will be sworn in at a venue inside the main airport area - one of the highly guarded areas in the capital - as security remains a key concern.

The 11th parliament comprises two main houses - the upper house with 54 members and the people's house with 275.

Their main task will be to elect a president who will be expected to lead the Horn of Africa nation for the next four years.

The swearing-in also marks a crucial step for the election process, dogged by conflict and political infighting between key stakeholders, leading to the elections being postponed several times.

The current President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, whose first term ended in February last year, continued to stay in power to avoid a political vacuum.

It took the intervention of Somalia's partners for the process to be hastened. The US imposed visa restrictions on some key players accused of sabotaging the election process.

Somalia has had no stability for over 30 years since the former military leader Siad Barre was toppled in 1991, followed by a bloody civil war.

However, a lot has changed in the last two decades as the country embarks on recovery.

Read more on this topic:

• Somalia's elections - where the people don't vote

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, AFP

South Africa has accused the Ukrainian ambassador to the country of using “undiplomatic” ways to seek an audience with President Cyril Ramaphosa over the ongoing Russian invasion of the eastern Europe country.

Ambassador Liubov Abravitova says she was forced to use Twitter to request a meeting with the president.

She accused the South African authorities, external of ignoring her numerous requests to meet Mr Ramaphosa and other ministers.

“Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, I did not have any requested meeting with South African government officials. My people are under brutal attack from Russians now,” Ms Abravitova posted on 10 April., external

Clayson Monyela, a senior official of the South African foreign ministry, however, denied the envoy’s claims, saying she had already held meetings with several government officials.

“Ambassador, you know this is wrong and undiplomatic. We’ve long made a request for HE Cyril Ramaphosa to speak to your president. You are not responding,” Mr Monyela replied on Twitter., external

The envoy defended her tweet, saying: “I don’t only have no choice, I have no time. My people are dying, tortured, raped.”

South Africa has faced criticism its neutral stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Last week, the country abstained from a UN General Assembly vote that sought to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.

Nigeria must look beyond changing coach and alter the country's footballing landscape to have success, says ex-striker Daniel Amokachi.

Thomas Naadi
BBC News, Accra

At least eight people have been killed and a number of others injured after gunmen attacked Zacholi village in north-eastern Ghana.

Some houses were also destroyed in the attack.

The police say they are investigating the incident.

The motive of the attackers is unclear - but the region faces security problems including armed robbery and communal tensions.

The attack happened barely a week after Ghana’s security minister said security alert levels had been increased due to the possibility of what he called ‘’terrorist attacks’’.

This is partly because of worsening violence by militants in neighbouring countries.

The British Home Secretary is in Rwanda to sign a deal that will offshore some of the UK's asylum processing to the African country.

Single men who pay smugglers to get them into Britain on small boats will be sent to Rwanda to have their asylum claims assessed.

Charities have condemned the scheme as cruel.

The UK government has been under mounting pressure to do something about the thousands of people arriving in southern England, mainly from France.

Home Secretary Priti Patel has termed her arrival in Kigali a "significant moment for the new plan for immigration".

She tweeted that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will on Thursday set out the full details of the deal.

Read more on the story:

• UK to sign deal to send asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing

Image source, Reuters

Kenyan authorities have reportedly cancelled the work permit of a French chief executive of one of the biggest oil marketers in Kenya amid a fuel shortage crisis.

The government is said to have ordered the deportation of Christian Bergeron, the chief executive of Rubis Energy Kenya - a subsidiary of France-based Rubis Group.

The energy regulator had on Tuesday accused some oil marketers of withholding the supply of fuel to the local market and prioritising exports to neighbouring countries.

The regulator said these companies would be punished by restricting the volumes of fuel they will be allowed to import for the next three months.

Kenya fuel companies sell about 65% of their imports to the local market and the rest to neighbouring landlocked Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

There has been a major shortage of the commodity in recent weeks across the country, with long queues forming in pump stations.

Kenyan authorities say there is enough stock in the storage facilities.

There is speculation that some marketers have been hoarding fuel in anticipation of a price increase on Thursday when the regulator reviews prices for the next month.

Experts say the current crisis in Kenya has been caused by a delay in disbursing fuel subsidies owed to oil marketers.

Kenya subsidises fuel prices to cushion consumers from higher fuel pump prices.

But oil marketers have been complaining of delays by government to compensate them for the government-subsidised prices they charge consumers.

The government released some of the delayed payments last week.