Police in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, stormed into nightclubs on Sunday night and ordered revellers to leave during a crackdown on premises operating in residential areas.

It follows complaints from residents about noise from bars, restaurants, nightclubs and alcohol-selling premises.

Governor Johnson Sakaja had on Friday cancelled the licences of all nightclubs operating within residential areas.

He said they would only be allowed to operate within the city centre and on specified streets in non-residential areas.

Many Nairobi residents have been calling for a similar ban on churches in residential areas - known for having loud music systems.

Mr Sakaja shared pictures of police officers assembling on Sunday night ahead of the crackdown:

Armed robbers invaded a Johannesburg church in South Africa and stole from the congregants at gunpoint over the weekend.

The gunmen stopped the sermon before proceeding to collect cash and valuables from the people inside the Johannesburg Central SDA church, according to reports.

The moment the gunmen stopped the preaching was captured on the church’s live camera.

The church leaders later posted a message offering consolation to the members and asking members to attend a counselling service on Sunday, a day after the incident.

“We are praying for the church to unite in times like these, supporting each other both moral and practical,” the church said in the post, which included the video when the robbery occurred:

The provincial police chief condemned the incident, telling the local media that they would do everything to arrest the suspects.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Officials in Somalia say they are questioning 20 foreign nationals who had spent years with the al-Shabab militant group.

The men from Pakistan and Iran said they had been working as fishermen before being captured by Somali pirates.

The Pakistani and Bangladeshi men have told local officials that they were fishermen who after being captured by pirates were then held for eight years by al-Shabab in Harardhere - a town controlled by the Somali jihadist group.

It is not yet clear what led to their release on Saturday.

The 20 men made their way to the nearby coastal town of Hobyo - which for several years had been at the centre of Somalia's lucrative piracy trade.

The district commissioner there, Abullahi Ahmed Ali, told the BBC they were being questioned and discussions were taking place with the Mogadishu government.

Guy Bandolo
BBC News

Image source, Reuters

A landslide in Cameroon's capital, Yaoundé, has killed at least 14 people, the authorities have said.

Those who died had been attending a funeral, according to the regional governor, Naseri Paul Bea.

Rescue teams were still searching for bodies and survivors on Sunday evening.

Residents said several families of mourners had gathered under large tents on waste ground at the top of a hill, when part of the ground beneath them gave way.

It's the latest weather-related disaster in Cameroon this year.

Correspondents say heavy rains have triggered several devastating floods throughout Cameroon this year, weakening infrastructure and displacing thousands of residents.

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Confederation of African Football, CAF, with the backing of FIFA, has launched a new Super League aimed at injecting much-needed funds to clubs on the continent. CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe promised that the tournament, due to start in 2023, would financially transform African football with $100 million on offer in prize money alone. But, as Ivana Davidovic finds out, there are more questions than answers for many involved in the game on the continent.

The owner of Cape Town City, John Comitis, says that they are in the dark about how the new competition would work in practice and that South African Premier Soccer League, where they were the runners-up last season, would be badly affected by the new Super League.

Nigerian football journalist and the former member of the dissolved FIFA Task Force Against Racism, Osasu Obayiuwana is worried that there are no clear plans where the money would come from for the Super League nor how teams could travel regularly across the vast continent. He also warns that a big problem would be the lack of interest in pan-African club tournaments from broadcasters and sponsors, as it is difficult for many Africans to regularly follow on TV what is happening in football leagues across the continent.

However, the legendary South African striker, UEFA Champions League winner and the current Manchester United first team coach Benni McCarthy believes that the Super League would boost standards across Africa, helping young players compete with the best from around the world.

Produced and presented by Ivana Davidovic

(Image: Mohamed el-Shenawy holds the winner's trophy after the CAF Super Cup Final between El Ahly and Raja Casablanca at Al Rayyan Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar on December 22, 2021. Photo credit: Mohammed Dabbous/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Middlemen are intermediaries who facilitate business interactions for a commission, but in Africa their role is more complex. Africa's middlemen divide opinion on whether they are predatory rent-seekers or invisible but ever present cultural brokers who are actually crucial to the economy.

We hear from local businessman Bola Omololu - based in Abeokuta, southwest Nigeria, and Tony Alabi an architect also based in Nigeria, in the commercial capital of Lagos. They share their experiences of interacting with middlemen.

Cocoa farmer Dimeji Green holds middlemen directly responsible for the dire conditions of farmers in the multi-billion pounds industry whilst Josephine Favre of the African association of vertical farming thinks middlemen are actually necessary for the economy to thrive.

Presenter / producer: Peter MacJob Image: Bolarinwa Omololu; Credit: Bolarinwa Omololu

Sadio Mané and Mo Salah have had a huge impact on the small towns and villages in Senegal and Egypt where they grew up.

We find out how local people have benefited from the money donated and hear about how this type of 'direct giving' is part of a wider trend making a big difference in the aid community.

Presenter: Isaac Fanin Producer: Hannah Bewley

(Image: Mane and Salah celebrating whilst playing for Liverpool. Credit: Getty)

We hear from some of the many small-scale farmers in Kenya who are using apps like What’sApp, Facebook and Instagram to share information about the best way to grow fruit and veg and sell direct to consumers. From the vibrant markets of Nairobi to the lush green slopes of Mount Kenya Sam Fenwick investigates how farming entrepreneurs are using smartphones to grow profits as well as peas. But running a business online can be challenging in Kenya where internet connections can be patchy and data bundles expensive. Safe access to the internet is seen as development goal. At the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly governments, the private sector, philanthropic funds and international organisations agreed that investment in digital infrastructure would help drive growth in emerging economies. US$295 million was committed to advance inclusive digital public infrastructure.

Presenter / Producer: Sam Fenwick Image: Cathy Kamanu; Credit: Cathy Kamanu

This is the story of Chido Govera aka The Mushroom Woman. It is a story about her home, Zimbabwe. And it is also a story about mushrooms. It never should have happened. Chido, an orphan, became the provider in her family aged seven. At 10 she was destined to marry a man 30 years older than her. But a chance encounter led her to discover the almost magical science of mushroom cultivation at a local university, and set her life on a very different course.

Eighteen fishermen from Sicily are in jail in Benghazi, accused of fishing in Libya’s waters. And in this part of the Mediterranean, rich in the highly-prized and lucrative red prawn, these kinds of arrests are frequent. Usually the Libyans release the men after negotiations. This time it’s different. General Khalifa Haftar – the warlord with authority over the east of Libya – is demanding a prisoner swap: the freeing of four Libyans in jail in Sicily convicted of human trafficking and implicated in the deaths of 49 migrants, in return for the fishermen. For Assignment, Linda Pressly explores a little-known conflict in the Mediterranean - the so-called, ‘Red Prawn War’ and its fall-out.

(Image: Domenico Asaro, a third generation fishermen from Mazara del Vallo who has been arrested at sea by Libya three times. Credit: BBC)

Pineapple beer is the universal homebrew in South Africa and pineapple prices trebled when the government imposed a ban on the sale of alcohol and tobacco during the coronavirus pandemic. South Africa has recorded the highest number of coronavirus cases in Africa and the government introduced the ban to ease the pressure on hospitals. With the infection rate now falling the ban has been lifted although some restrictions remain in place. Ed Butler and Vauldi Carelse have been hearing from the brewers, both legal and illegal, on the impact the ban has had on their livelihoods and on people’s health, and since the ban has ended, from those considering what lessons the nation might learn from its experiment with being ‘dry’.

(Image: Barman working at a bar which has re-opened under new regulations in Val, South Africa, 07 August 2020. Credit: EPA/Kim Ludbrook)

To mark the 400 years since the arrival of African slaves to America, Jamaican-born author Anne Bailey reflects on two remarkable women pertinent to this commemoration and discusses how they have influenced her journey as a Black female historian.

Mary Prince, a West Indian slave who after enduring incredible hardships at the hands of several masters obtained her freedom and wrote an abolitionist narrative that was published in Britain. And Sally Hemings - the enigmatic enslaved mistress of Thomas Jefferson who never officially received her freedom and who never wrote her own story, yet as a historical figure looms large in history and in memory.

Anne Bailey reflects on how each of them represented freedom in their own way.

Producer Neil McCarthy

To mark 400 years since the arrival of African slaves to America, David Olusoga reflects on the life of Sarah Forbes Bonetta. As a young Dahomeyan girl called Ina, she was sold into slavery and, in an extraordinary twist of fate, was gifted to Queen Victoria and became her goddaughter Sarah Forbes Bonetta.

Producer Neil McCarthy

To mark 400 years since the arrival of African slaves to America, the author Daina Ramey Berry reflects on Isaac, who led a rebellion, and whose life ended in a final act of defiance.

Reflecting on the 400-year anniversary of African arrivals in America and the legacy of slavery, Daina Ramey Berry is drawn to an enslaved man she met while researching her book The Price for their Pound of Flesh. His name is Isaac and she learned about him through a 19th century newspaper that recorded his remarkable story. He is someone she thinks of often because of his expression of soul values which enslaved people clung to and used to resist the commodification of their bodies. Daina shares Isaac’s story, his powerful statement, and legacies of slavery that reverberate today.

Producer Neil McCarthy