The fight for affordable HIV/Aids treatment

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team this week. There will be an automated news feed until we're back on Monday morning at bbc.com/africalive.

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 picture of fishermen on South Africa's eastern coast pulling their nets in during the annual sardine run - one of our favourites from our gallery of the week's best photos:

Image source, Reuters

Simon Gongo
BBC Afrique, Ouagadougou

Image source, AFP

A reconciliation summit of ex-presidents in Burkina Faso, organised by the junta that took power in January, has finished with only two turning up - out of up to six who were invited.

One of those in attendance was Blaise Compaoré, who controversially returned to the country on Thursday after eight years in exile.

The other was Jean-Baptist Ouédraogo, who was ousted by revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara in 1983.

Roch Kaboré, who was ousted in January this year, did not attend the meeting as his supporters blocked him from leaving his house.

Military ruler Lt-Col Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba had wanted their advice in dealing with the country’s “difficult and complicated” security situation, linked to jihadist violence, and other problems.

It is not clear how long Compaoré will be in the country. He was toppled in an uprising in 2014 and went to live in Ivory Coast.

In April, he was given a life sentence in absentia for his role in the assassination of Sankara during the coup that brought him to power 35 years ago. Lawyers representing the Sankara family have called for his arrest.

DJ Edu
Presenter of This Is Africa on BBC World Service

Image source, Barakell Beni

“I was very, very influenced by Angélique Kidjo,” says Beninois singer-songwriter Sessime.

“At the beginning of my career all I was singing was Angélique Kidjo songs. People often say: ‘She’s following Angélique Kidjo’s footsteps, she’s going to succeed her,’ but I hope that Angélique Kidjo still has a great career in front of her.”

Sessime’s own career has developed a lot since those days. She has been named best artist in Benin twice, and has produced an extensive body of music, including collaborations, for example Diyo, featuring Nigerian artist Omawumi.

Sessime says the song which has had the biggest impact is Tatouage, released in 2021. It tells the story of how Sessime was bullied by some fans because she has reached 30 and is “still” not married, nor does she have any children.

“Every time I posted a photo on social media it was: ‘Go have a kid, go get married.’ Every time I dropped a song: ‘Go and have a child, go and find a husband’. All the time insults, all the time talking about me and throwing stones. It really nearly pushed me into depression. I couldn’t write any more or even compose. On stage I wasn’t myself, I was taking pills to be able to get to sleep sometimes.”

The effect on Sessime was so bad that she needed help to write Tatouage.

“Tina is a Gabonese rapper and I told her my whole story and it is she who put it into words.”

The response Tatouage received was deeply affecting for Sessime: “Women called me saying: ‘Sessime bravo!’

"Men called me saying: ‘I have problems conceiving and people are attacking me in the family.’

"Lots of people are bearing the weight of this African society, the weight of not being married, or being married and not having children. It’s not just a problem for Sessime.

"As artists we need to sing about the problems that ordinary people face, so that people can have a bit of satisfaction and be healed a little bit.

“It’s important for people to understand that it’s in our differences that we bring more to humanity. We need to accept others as they are. Just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean other people have to not like it also.

“Why do we want others to be like us and look like us? If someone wants to be a certain way to be just blooming and happy, let them live their life in peace.

“Don’t load emotional stress on them when they already have their own struggles in life.”

You can hear more from Sessime on This is Africa this Saturday on BBC World Service radio, available here online, external, and partner stations across Africa.

Mildred Wanyonyi
BBC News, Nairobi

Kenya has amended its law on children’s rights - giving them more protection with a raft of changes including raising the criminal age of responsibility from eight to 12.

The amendments, which were signed into law by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday, also require legal representation for children who are in legal trouble or going through the court system.

It stipulates that minor infractions by children should not be prosecuted through the courts but be handled by community-based support networks.

It also mandates that police stations have separate areas for children to prevent them being held in detention with adults.

Other areas deal with the rights of a child to have parental care - though allows for separation if it is in the child's interest and makes it easier to organise adoption by a relative.

BBC Focus on Africa radio

Image source, AFP

The son of the great military and political rival to Angola's former President José Eduardo dos Santos, who has died at the age of 79, sees his presidency as a lost opportunity.

Dos Santos' MPLA fought a long civil war with Jonas Savimbi's Unita movement.

In 2002, Dos Santos' forces killed Savimbi and a peace deal was signed with a new Unita leadership.

Savimbi's son, Rafael, told BBC Focus on Africa radio that "as a human being... we never wish someone to pass away".

He recalled that when he was younger both sides of the conflict thought the opponent's leader was "a monster as a result of the propaganda".

But "now we have grown up we can conclude that each of them had his principles and each of them defended their cause".

In the interview, Mr Savimbi shied away from any personal attacks, but, still loyal to the Unita opposition, did not hold back when assessing Dos Santos' legacy as a near-four-decade leader of the oil-rich nation.

"From 2002 we had peace and also a period of high oil prices and we lost a great opportunity to make strategic investments in infrastructure to guarantee a better standard of living," he said.

Dos Santos stepped down in 2017 with his reputation undermined by allegations of large-scale corruption during his time in office.

Princess Abumere
BBC News, Lagos

Image source, Getty Images

Fans of Burna Boy are excited - and the music star’s name has been trending in Nigeria following the release his sixth studio album called Love, Damini.

They have been sharing their favourite songs from the 19-track album, which is a follow-up to his Grammy award-winning album Twice as Tall.

Love, Damini, which has already made the top five album list on US iTunes, has been described as one of his most personal releases, reflecting on his life, relationships and dreams.

“I want you to listen to this and feel like it’s a rollercoaster ride. Catch a vibe, buss a whine, party like it’s your birthday, or even grab a tissue,” he told Apple Music.

The afro-fusion album features a whole crew of other artists: Nigerian singer Victony, British singer Ed Sheeran, South African choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo as well as US singers Khalid and Kehlani, British rapper J Hus, Jamaican singer Popcaan, US rapper Blxst and Colombian singer J Balvin.

Pundits are saying it is one of the highest charting albums by a Nigerian artist in US iTunes' history.

One of the album’s lead singles - Last, Last, which samples a Toni Braxton song - has more than 21 million views on YouTube since its release ahead of the album in May.

The song has also peaked at number three on the Afrobeats chart in the US and at number one in the UK version.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, Rosa Inguane

A refugee from Burundi has been murdered in Mozambique – the reason for his killing is unclear.

The head of the refugee association in the country said he hoped the authorities would unravel the mystery around Selemane Masiya’s death.

He was stabbed in his home on Thursday in the city of Nampula.

“It is too premature to associate this act with political persecution. But, we want to believe that the hard work of the competent authorities will be able to have more information and that the criminals can, in fact, be held criminally responsible,” the association said.

Ons Jabeur's run to the Wimbledon final will inspire a new generation of African tennis players, says the continent's head of the sport.

Israel Campos
BBC News

José Eduardo dos Santos leaves a legacy that divides many opinions inside and outside Angola.

The Angolan government has declared five days of mourning for the former president who has died in Spain at the age of 79.

“José Eduardo dos Santos was a unique figure in Angola, participating actively in the fight against colonisation which led to the victory independence and the consolidation of Angolan nation,” a statement from the Angolan presidency said.

President João Lourenço also created a commission to organise a state funeral for the man who ruled the country for nearly four decades until 2017.

The country is heading to elections in August, but all rallies scheduled for Saturday in the capital, Luanda, have been cancelled as a mark of respect.

Much of Dos Santos’ presidency was spent fighting a civil war against Unita rebels - a conflict that ended in 2002 with the death of his long-time rival, rebel leader Jonas Savimbi.

Unita is now the country’s largest opposition party - and in a statement posted on social media it sent its condolences to Dos Santos’ family and friends.

Activist Luaty Beirão, one of 17 activists arrested in 2015 for reading a banned political book, tweeted , externalthat he feels “zero pity, zero emotion” about the former leader’s death.

Tchizé dos Santos, one of the former president’s daughters who has been publishing tributes on Instagram, has also posted videos of public commotion following reports of the death.

The videos emerged a few hours ago and have been shared widely on Angolan social media.

In the clips, which seem to be recorded in one of the informal markets in Luanda, street vendors sing songs in memory of Dos Santos and shout slogans such as: “They killed our president” – with some demanding the resignation of Angola’s current president.

President Lourenço, who was Dos Santos’ chosen successor, is resented by some for going after the former leader’s family with probes into corruption in the oil sector.

Ishaq Khalid
BBC News, Abuja

Nigeria’s prison authorities have published the names and photos of 69 suspected militants, external who recently escaped from a prison in the capital, Abuja, during a deadly raid on the facility.

On Tuesday, armed men broke into the Kuje Correctional Centre – freeing more than 800 inmates, half of whom have been recaptured. It is especially worried about 69 of those still on the run.

It says they have links to the jihadist Boko Haram group or other terror-linked cases and urged the public to get in touch with any information that can help track them down.

The Islamic State group said its fighters carried out the brazen jailbreak.

Many have been left wondering how the militants managed to target the exact cells where their colleagues were being held.

At least four inmates, one security guard and several of the attackers were killed during the raid, while parts of the prison building were destroyed.

It was the latest in a series of jailbreaks over the last two years that have seen more than 5,000 prisoners escape.

Image source, Getty Images

Disagreements are being reported among the family of former Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos, who has died in Spain aged 79.

According to Spanish news agency Efe, it began when the former leader was admitted to a clinic in Barcelona last month.

Part of the family suspects he may have been the victim of a conspiracy to try to kill him and prevent him from giving his support to the opposition in elections next month, it reports.

One of his daughters, Tchizé dos Santos, has asked the clinic where he died, to keep his body in Spain for a full autopsy rather than it being returned directly to Angola, the Reuters news agency quotes her lawyer Carmen Varela as saying.

The clinic declined to comment, it reports.

Angolan President João Lourenço has declared five days of national mourning, describing his predecessor as a "unique figure of the Angolan homeland, to which he dedicated himself from a very early age".

When Dos Santos stood down in 2017, Mr Lourenço moved to investigate the former leader's family over allegations of corruption.

Nigeria midfielder Ngozi Okobi-Okeoghene says the Women's Africa Cup of Nations trophy is a 'birth-right' for the nine-time winners.

Ozair Ali was playing with his seven-year-old brother when he got into difficulty in a hotel pool.

One of the daughters of Angola's former President José Eduardo dos Santos has been paying tribute to her father who has died at the age of 79.

Tchizé dos Santos has a stream of posts on Instagram saying how proud she is of his achievements during his four decades as president of the oil-rich nation.

One post has photos of the luminaries her father met during his career, including several taken with South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela and other leaders such as Russia's President Vladimir Putin and former US President Barack Obama.

"Proud of you my father. You gave your all. Did the best you could and you knew. Proud of your devotion and discipline. You are big forever," the accompanying message reads.

Another post is a collage of family photos from her childhood, with the message: "Parents never die because they are the truest love that children know in life. They live forever inside us."

Thomas Naadi
BBC News, Accra

Image source, Getty Images

The health authorities in Ghana have quarantined 34 people following two suspected cases of the Marburg virus, a highly infectious disease from the same family as Ebola.

Those under surveillance were part of contacts traced to the suspected cases.

The health authorities say they are closely monitoring the suspected Marburg outbreak - reported in two different locations in the Ashanti region of southern Ghana.

In a statement, officials said two patients, who had since died, tested positive for the virus.

If confirmed, these would be the first cases recorded in Ghana and only the second in West Africa.

The symptoms include diarrhoea, fever, nausea and vomiting. The virus is transmitted from fruit bats and spreads among humans through direct contact with the bodily fluids of infected people, surfaces and materials.

Samples have been sent to the Pasteur Institute in Senegal for further investigation.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ghanaian authorities are conducting further checks and have begun preparations to contain the possible outbreak.

José Eduardo dos Santos, who was Angola's president for 38 years, dies aged 79 in Spain.

Image source, AFP

José Eduardo dos Santos, Angola’s former president who has died aged 79, was being treated for an undisclosed condition at a clinic in the Spanish city of Barcelona.

The Angolan presidency’s statement announcing the death said he had been suffering from a prolonged illness. It paid tribute to his long presidency, saying he had ruled with clarity and humanity.

The civil war and its legacy dominated much of Dos Santos’ four decades in office

He stepped down five years ago, handing over to his former defence minister, João Lourenço, who moved quickly to open corruption investigations, especially into the oil sector, targeting the former leader’s children.

Image source, Getty Images

A spokesperson for UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the government intends to move ahead with already agreed policies such as immigration flights to Rwanda.

The press briefing at 10 Downing Street comes a day after Mr Johnson resigned as Conservative leader, saying he would step down as prime minister when a Tory leader was found.

This is not likely to be for several months, though Mr Johnson promised he would not use his remaining time as prime minister to make "major changes of direction".

In this light the spokesperson said the Rwanda asylum policy, announced by the government in April, would continue.

It intends to take some asylum seekers who cross the Channel to the UK on a one-way ticket to Rwanda to claim asylum there instead.

So far no-one has been sent to Rwanda from the UK. A flight that was due to take asylum seekers was cancelled before take-off last month, following a last-minute intervention by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The High Court in the UK is due to hear a judicial review challenging the legality of the deportation policy this month.

"Convention doesn't prevent or preclude government from seeking to fulfil that policy and that would include defending cases in court as required," PA News quotes the spokesperson as saying.

It was possible flights could depart before a judicial review, the spokesperson added.

More on this topic:

• What happened when Israel sent its refugees to Rwanda
• Why are asylum seekers being sent to Rwanda and how many could go?
• UK asylum deal: Is Rwanda a land of safety or fear?

José Eduardo dos Santos was praised for bringing peace but sullied his reputation clinging to power.