Live coverage of all the first legs of the fixtures to determine Africa's qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup.

Nichola Mandil
BBC News, Juba

Image source, AFP

Renewed fighting in South Sudan between the army and opposition troops is a cause for concern, the UN has warned.

There are fears that the clashes between the forces belonging to the two sides in the unity government could threaten the fragile peace deal and elections due to be held next year.

The fighting broke out on Thursday between the military and the armed wing of the main opposition SPLM-IO party in various areas in the northern oil-producing state of Upper Nile.

The army spokesman accused the opposition forces of attacking its positions in Longichuk and Malual Gathoth. The SPLM-IO says it was attacked.

On Monday, the SPLM-IO, led by deputy President Riek Machar, withdrew from the country's peace monitoring body because of what it said were unprovoked attacks.

Nicholas Hysom, head of the UN’s peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (Unmiss), said that decision was deeply worrying.

A civil war broke out in South Sudan 2013 when President Salva Kiir and Mr Machar fell out, leading to a deadly conflict that forced about four million people from their homes.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Image source, AFP

A court in Angola has sentenced Carlos de São Vicente, a businessman with links to two former presidents, to nine years in prison for stealing $900m (£682m), the private Novo Journal reported.

The charges included embezzlement, tax fraud and money laundering.

His defence team intends to appeal Thursday's ruling.

“Mr De São Vicente continues to contest all the accusations made against him and to assert his innocence,” his lawyers told US news site VOA.

Mr De São Vicente was in detention for more than a year before his court case began in February.

A son in-law to Angola’s first President Agostinho Neto, he was given the monopoly of insuring the country’s lucrative, state-controlled oil industry during the presidency of José Eduardo dos Santos.

The government of incumbent President João Lourenço has pursued several corruption cases against people linked to Mr Dos Santos.

However, the anti-graft campaign has also drawn criticism for being used as a political weapon.

BBC World Service
Newsroom

Health officials in Cameroon say 29 people have died from cholera in one week.

They say more than 300 cases of the disease have been registered in the south-west of the country.

Earlier this week, the governor of the affected region, Bernard Okalia Bilai, said the outbreak had been caused by a lack of clean water and urged local official to build public toilets.

Cameroon's Health Minister Manaouda Malachie says the latest deaths bring the number of people who died from cholera over the past six months to more than 60.

Ameyu Etana
BBC Afaan Oromoo

Image source, Ethiopian Prime Minister's Office

A powerful traditional ruler of Ethiopia’s Oromo people has told the BBC he has been targeted by rebels in the Oromia region for urging them to lay down their arms.

Jiloo Mandho said Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) fighters had attacked his home in the remote village of Guji in southern Oromia.

‘‘I don’t know their exact number but they came on four motorcycles and opened fire on one of my residential houses in the rural area. I survived because I was away,’’ he told the BBC.

No-one was hurt in the incident but properties were destroyed, he said

Mr Jiloo holds the title “abbaa gadaa” - an elected position that is part of a unique cultural Oromo form of government over local communities known as the Gadaa system that is recognised by Unesco.

There are many of these traditional rulers in Oromia and they each serve for eight years in the role.

Mr Jiloo currently chairs the union of abbaa gadaas, making him very influential throughout Oromia, where he is popular.

As abbaa gadaa of Guji, he says he has been receiving death threats from the rebels for several years.

Things became worse last September after he declared that the OLA was an enemy of the Oromo people - Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group - following rebel atrocities.

Fearing for his life, he said he rented a house in a small town and had even skipped his son’s wedding because of the threats.

But an OLA spokesman told the BBC that it respects the Gadaa system and denied any involvement in the attack on Mr Jiloo’s rural home.

The OLA says it is fighting to liberate Oromia from years of oppression by the country’s various rulers – a struggle that began decades ago, but which has intensified in recent years.

Most people want their nation to make it to the World Cup, but this is not so for some Cameroonians.

Image source, Getty Images

A Sudanese protester was killed by security forces on Thursday during anti-coup demonstrations held across the country.

The death of the 28-year-old is the latest of the 90 people who have been killed since protests following the coup in October.

Protesters have remained undeterred despite the heavy crackdown by security forces.

On Thursday, thousands of demonstrators marching towards the presidential palace in the capital, Khartoum, were met by gunfire and tear gas.

Several people were carried away bleeding, the Reuters news agency reports.

The protesters want the military to hand power over to a civilian government.

More on this topic:

• WATCH: BBC investigation shows abuse of female demonstrators
• VIEWPOINT: How Sudan's generals betrayed my generation

The civil war has left millions needing food aid, yet none has been delivered to Tigray for months.

BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Heads of state from the West African regional group Ecowas are due to meet in Ghana on Friday to discuss the political situation in Mali following last year's coup.

Mali's interim president, Assimi Goita, has declined an invitation to attend in person.

It's unclear whether he will join the summit via video link.

In January, West African countries closed their borders with Mali and announced an embargo after the military leadership scrapped a promise to hold elections the following month to restore civilian rule.

On Thursday a court ordered the suspension of financial sanctions which had been imposed on the military rulers.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Mozambique has imposed a partial ban on South African imports of cattle, goats, sheep, pigs and their meat and by-products following an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the neighbouring country.

The ban covers products from the South African provinces of North West, Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal provinces.

The three provinces reported an outbreak of the disease earlier this week.

Mozambique's National Directorate for Livestock Development also banned the importation of cattle fodder from the three provinces.

However the ban does not prohibit the importation of pasteurized dairy products, heat-processed meats or pharmaceutical substances.

Ten African teams meet over two legs to decide which five nations will be going to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in November.

Image source, AFP

The leader of an anti-migrant group in South Africa was detained overnight at a police station in the commercial capital of Johannesburg.

The reason for the arrest of Nhlanhla Lux Dlamini, 33, remains unclear.

His group, Operation Dudula, has been campaigning against undocumented foreign nationals in the country.

"We are going to allow the process of the law to happen," he told journalists outside the Johannesburg Central Police station after his arrest.

Mr Dlamini also urged his followers not to respond with violence over his arrest.

Public broadcaster SABC quotes an official of the group as saying that Mr Dlamini is expected to appear at the Roodepoort magistrate’s court on Friday morning.

Support for the group has been growing among South African communities who feel marginalised.

There are concerns that its campaigns could lead to yet another outbreak of xenophobic violence in the country.

Read more:

• Dudula: How South African anger has focused on foreigners

Image source, Getty Images

The World Health Organization (WHO) is urging caution over the increasing number of African countries rolling back Covid-19 surveillance and quarantine measures.

The WHO says this is especially "worrisome in a continent that still has the lowest rates of vaccination in the world".

It said that because of the pressure to open up the economy, countries were cutting back on surveillance and other measures.

“It is a matter of concern that nearly half of all countries in Africa have stopped tracing the contacts of cases. This, along with robust testing, is the backbone of any pandemic response”, said Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa, in a virtual press conference on Thursday.

The WHO’s caution comes amid a recent spike in Covid cases in other parts of the world.

“Lifting the public health measures does not mean lifting the foot off the pedal of pandemic vigilance,” Dr Moeti said.

About 201 million people or 15% of Africa’s population are fully vaccinated compared with the global average of 57%, according to WHO.

BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

The authorities in the Ethiopian region of Tigray say they will do everything possible to ensure the success of a ceasefire.

Ethiopia's government earlier announced an indefinite humanitarian truce in the country's civil war.

In a statement, the Tigrayan forces said they were committed to a pause in hostilities - as long as the government took "concrete steps" to allow aid into the region.

The fighting has left more than five million people needing food aid, but no deliveries have reached Tigray for months.

Both sides accuse each other of blocking supplies.

Read more:

• What's stopping aid reaching Tigray?
• Ethiopia's Tigray war - and how it erupted

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Sanctions are used by countries as a diplomatic tool, but they don't always have their intended effect.

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

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team until Friday morning.

There will be an automated news feed until then. 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 photo of a man baking bread in Abobo, a suburb of Abidjan in Ivory Coast:

Image source, AFP

Image source, Getty Images

Billboard is teaming up with festival company Afro Nation to launch America's first ever Afrobeats chart, it says., external

It will go live on 29 March and rank the top 50 most popular Afrobeats songs in the country based on streams and downloads.

“The last decade has seen Afrobeats explode into a worldwide phenomenon, influencing culture and fashion across the globe and I am humbled to have made a contribution to growing the genre alongside many talented, passionate people,” Billboard quotes Afro Nation founder, Obi Asika, as saying.

US magazine Billboard publishes music charts showing the most popular albums and songs in various genres.

"As with much of the world, Afrobeats has grown tremendously as a genre in America and we are proud to showcase the top songs and artists with this new weekly ranking," Billboard executive, Silvio Pietroluongo, said.

Several Afrobeats songs have had international success recently including Ckay's Love Nwantiti, Fireboy DML's Peru and Wizkid's Essence.

Image source, EPA

The head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Nigeria's former finance minister, has said "we should be very worried" about the impact of rising food prices as a result of the war in Ukraine, in an interview with UK's Guardian newspaper, external.

Food and fuel inflation could lead to riots in poorer countries, the Guardian reports Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as saying.

"The impact on food prices and hunger this year and next could be substantial. Food and energy are the two biggest items in the consumption baskets of poor people all over the world. It is poor countries and poor people within poor countries that will suffer the most.”

She said that 35 African countries were directly affected and said that policies to mitigate the impact of higher prices should be put in place.

This week we reported that Egypt set a fixed price for unsubsidised bread, with the aim of controlling rising food prices due to the disruption to the wheat supply caused by the war.