The Estadio da Rocha in Guinea-Bissau's second city Bafata is to be renamed the King Pele after the late Brazilian football icon.

Ahmed Rouaba
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

The withdrawal of a leading Algerian figure from active politics has shocked many in the North African nation.

Azzedine Mihoubi, a former presidential candidate and cabinet minister, said he wants to focus on his "intellectual and literary work" and continue "serving his country in a different ways".

Mr Mihoubi, a renowned novelist and poet, is one of Algeria's most prolific writers. He is also a recipient of many Algerian and Arab literary awards.

He has published 48 books and served as culture minister from 2015 to 2019.

He has never been accused of any wrongdoing during his tenure in the public service.

Many had expected the 64-year-old to challenge President Abdelmadjid Tebboun in next year's election.

Officials of his National Democratic Rally party, including former leader and Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, have been prosecuted and jailed on corruption charges since the late former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was ousted from power amid a popular protest in 2019.

Some Algerians suggest that the authorities backed by the army may have forced Mr Mihoubi out of politics.

Others say that he was always a poet at heart and it was natural for him to return to spending time doing what he loves.

BBC Monitoring
The world through its media

Nigerian medics have expressed concerns over the failure by the government to impose restrictions on travellers from China following a resurgence of Covid-19 in the Asian country, privately owned The Punch website has reported.

China has faced a surge in cases after it recently abandoned its tough Covid-19 measures.

The medics said the country lacked adequate personnel to handle another pandemic as a result of the massive emigration of health workers to other countries.

"We need to act now because we don't even have enough doctors to handle the current challenges we have in the health sector," the website quoted National Association of Resident Doctors president Dr Emeka Orji as saying.

Those coming from China must have a negative Covid-19 test or be screened to curb a new wave of the virus in the country, said Prof Oladapo Ashiru, president of the Academy of Medicine Specialities of Nigeria.

Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has, however, maintained that travel restrictions have little or no effect on preventing global and national circulation of the virus.

Neighbouring Ghana recently announced that travellers entering the country from China will undergo a mandatory Covid-19 test on arrival.

DJ Edu
Presenter of This Is Africa on BBC World Service

Image source, Sean Kuti

Seun Kuti, son of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, started playing with his father’s band as a child, and when the Nigerian musical icon died, Seun took over as leader of the group that was by that time called Egypt 80.

Seun’s sound has evolved and is distinctive but has much of the excitement, energy and musicality that Fela’s music is known for.

When we connected recently though it was Fela’s social and political engagement that Seun was channelling most.

The conversation was wide ranging, Seun touching on everything from Nigeria’s new naira notes to the link between poor mental health and consumerism.

Seun believes that Africans are letting themselves be duped into thinking that buying big cars and designer clothes produced in the West will make them happy.

To coin a phrase – the title of one of his father’s songs – we have internalised a colonial mentality.

“How much European things can you buy, you hear it in all the popular songs, as if the reason we are here is to consume as much Gucci and Louis V as possible, as much watches and diamond chains and all these things they confuse us with. Africans don’t even know that success is actually building your nation.”

Interestingly though, in our chat, Seun fought shy of attacking the new generation of Afrobeats artists directly:

“I’m not critical of young people doing this because they are young, I’m critical of the adults that plug into this and tune into it because they don’t want to grow up.”

Seun was nominated for a Grammy in 2019, but he hasn’t had the kind of success enjoyed by Burna Boy and Wizkid who sometimes quote his father both musically and lyrically.

He told me it has only just dawned on him why he has chosen to prioritise conscious lyrics over greater popularity.

It’s because he never knew Fela as the superstar he was in the 1970s, when lyrics about black empowerment were mainstream globally and artists like Marvin Gaye were providing the soundtrack to the civil rights movement in the US.

You can hear Seun Kuti in conversation with DJ Edu on This is Africa this Saturday, on BBC World Service radio and partner stations across Africa, as well as online here.

Jonathan Paye-Layleh
BBC News, Monrovia

Image source, Ministry of information

Liberian police say they have seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition at the country's main port and at a private residence outside the capital, Monrovia.

The weapons found at the port of Monrovia were in boxes stacked inside a shipping container, police Inspector General Patrick Sudue told journalists on Thursday.

“[In] the first few boxes that were searched we discovered some heavy, heavy weapons,” he said.

"We’re talking about military weapons in those boxes.”

The cache includes Omega 15 assault rifles, Rock River LAR guns, and double-barrel automatic machine guns which were displayed to journalists.

He said some of the ammunition found did not have arms to match - and suggested that the guns were either still hidden or could be on the way.

A preliminary investigation has named a Liberian national living in the US as the consignor.

A search in the suspect’s home in the outskirts of Monrovia uncovered a consignment of arms hidden in the ceiling, the police boss said.

He said the Liberian government was considering asking the US to extradite suspect.

The motive of the shipment remains unclear in a country that is still reeling from the impact of civil wars that killed an estimated 250,000 people and ended in 2003.

Liberia’s next general elections are due in 10 October.

Mansur Abubakar
BBC Pidgin, Kano

A couple found dead on Tuesday in a house in Nigeria's northern state of Kano had been using a charcoal stove to keep warm and died from breathing in carbon monoxide, police said in a statement.

When burnt coal, among other gases, produces poisonous carbon monoxide which when inhaled over a prolonged period, especially in places without proper ventilation, can be fatal.

“When our officers visited the scene they found the couple motionless and also odour from charcoal which suggests they used it to keep warm from the harmattan cold," the statement said.

The harmattan season runs between November and mid-March.

It is characterised by dry and dusty north-easterly winds which blow from the Sahara desert. In some places this results in cold weather.

Bayern Munich's Moroccan defender Noussair Mazraoui is to take time away from football to deal with inflammation of heart tissue.

Kennedy Gondwe
BBC News, Lusaka

A video of Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema boasting last month that his government had ended electricity blackouts, is being widely shared on WhatsApp two days after the country’s power utility firm announced indefinite power cuts of up to 12 hours a day.

“Is there somebody who’s been load shedded here? Put up your hand,” he said in December, before adding, “it’s because of the work we are doing behind the scenes”.

On Wednesday Zambia’s power utility - Zesco - attributed the drop in electricity supply to low water levels in the Kariba dam, which the country relies on for hydropower.

It also said routine maintenance works on a coal plant that feeds into the power grid was also contributing to the situation.

The public outcry has forced Mr Hichilema to change tune.

In a statement on Thursday he said he was aware of how the electricity disruption was affecting homes and businesses and that his government was "doing everything" to find immediate and long term solutions.

“We have said it before and we will say it again; we will spend most of this year unlocking domestic rigidities that affect economic growth,” Mr Hichilema said.

His government has also announced that it would cut power exports.

But Zambians on social media have continued expressing their unhappiness:

Last November's peace deal has allowed aid supplies into Tigray again, but there are still concerns about the food situation.

Image source, Ian Khama

Botswana former President Ian Khama has filed an application at the High Court in the country's capital, Gaborone, asking it to set aside an arrest warrant issued by a magistrate court last week, Reuters news agency reports.

The judge issued orders that Mr Khama, who left office in 2018, should be arrested on sight for failure to appear for trial earlier last year.

"The warrant of arrest threatens my right to liberty in circumstances where I have committed no crime...should this warrant of arrest not be stayed or set aside...I would suffer irreparable harm which cannot be compensated for in any form," Mr Khama said in the filing on Thursday, Reuters reports.

He is facing 14 charges including allegations of money laundering and handling stolen property, but the arrest warrant issued is related to a charge of possession of five illegal firearms.

The 69-year-old denied the charges and says they are part of a political conspiracy after he fell out with his successor President Mokgweetsi Masisi.

Mr Khama left Botswana last year and has been residing in neighbouring South Africa.

He told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme in April last year that the charges were "fabricated" and that he suspected people in Mr Masisi's government intended "to do me harm".

"He wants to eliminate me before the 2024 elections because he views me as his biggest stumbling block to his re-election," Mr Khama said of his successor.

The government called his allegations of a planned assassination "outrageous".

"The narrative that the former president and his family members are being persecuted is devoid of any truth," government spokesperson John-Thomas Dipowe said at the time.

Ameyu Etana
BBC Afaan Oromoo

Image source, AFP

Ethiopian athlete Tirunesh Dibaba, a three-time Olympic and five-time world champion in long-distance running, is set to return to running after the birth of her third child.

It had been widely assumed that she had retired.

Tirunesh, 37, is due to make a comeback in the Houston Half Marathon scheduled for 15 January.

“Houston is a famous race and my training has been going well,” she said in a press release.

“It seems the best way to test myself and see what could happen next.”

The top athlete raced for the last time in 2018 where she finished third in a 10km road race in Spain.

Her husband Sileshi Sihine, who is an athlete-turned businessman, told the BBC that Tirunesh had given birth twice since 2018.

Tirunesh and her siblings are together regarded as the world's fastest family with five of them recorded as the only siblings in history to hold concurrent world records.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Mozambique has issued warnings of a possible tropical storm in the southern coastal province of Gaza where heavy rains and possible flooding are expected to start from Friday.

The National Institute of Meteorology has urged residents to take precautionary measures to fortify their houses and to not venture outside.

The southern Africa region has witnessed increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events which the UN has linked to the climate crisis facing Africa.

Mozambique meteorological institute said strong winds accompanied by rains of up to 50 millimetres per hour are expected.

The storm could affect the northern areas as well as those on the coast of the province, said Leonardo Duma from the institute.

"If you have a house that is not in good condition try to fix it well in order to be able to resist these strong winds that we are predicting," he said on state radio.

Image source, Ivory Coast Transport Ministry/Facebook

At least 14 people died and dozens others were injured on Thursday after two buses collided on the outskirts of Ivory Coast’s capital, Yamoussoukro.

The victims who died were nine men and five women, while more than 70 were injured and were taken to hospitals.

One of the buses was carrying mourners including foreigners heading to a funeral of a woman who had died in Europe, the Ivorian press agency reported.

The exact cause of the accident has not been established.

In a statement posted on Facebook,, external the Ivorian transport minister expressed condolences to the families of the deceased.

The ministry also called on motorists and road users to be more vigilant to avoid such accidents.

Deadly road accidents are common in the West African country amid poorly maintained roads and vehicles. Driver errors also often contribute to the accidents.

Patience Atuhaire
BBC News, Kampala

At least 16 people were killed when a passenger bus rammed into a stationary lorry on Friday morning on Uganda’s highway that links the capital, Kampala, to the northern town of Gulu.

Police say 12 people died on the spot while four others died later at a hospital. Several other travellers on the bus were injured.

The lorry was said to have been parked and loading cargo about a kilometre from Kamdini Corner - a popular stopover and checkpoint in the north of the country.

There have been worrying levels of road carnage in the country in recent weeks and especially over the festive season.

A traffic police report earlier this week revealed that 104 road accidents had been recorded between 30 December and 1 January.

At least 35 people were killed in these road crashes alone.

Road accidents have been a long-running crisis in the country. Traffic police registered over 4,000 crashes across Uganda in 2021, many of them fatal.

Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan has sacked a top State House official barely two days after announcing his appointment.

Former head of intelligence Diwani Athumani Msuya had on Tuesday been appointed as State House permanent secretary.

But he was replaced on Thursday by Mululi Majula Mahendeka - himself a former State House official.

No explanation was offered in a statement from the president's office that announced the changes.

Mr Msuya was appointed as head of Tanzania Intelligence and Security Services (TISS) in September 2019 by former President John Magufuli.

David Mwanaka is "overjoyed" at securing his first long-term tenancy after 20 years of farming.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Soldiers in the breakaway region of Somaliland have withdrawn from a disputed town after several days of deadly violence.

Opposition parties and human rights organisations accused the troops of killing at least 10 people during protests last week in the town of Las Anod.

The demonstrators took to the streets after gunmen killed a politician.

The local mayor said military leaders had ordered troops to return to barracks so that the situation could normalise.

Las Anod is claimed by Somaliland - which declared independence from Somalia in 1991 - as well as by Puntland, a region in northern Somalia.

BBC World Service

The government in Chad says security forces have foiled an attempt by a group of army officers to destabilise the country.

A statement said 11 army officers were involved.

The government said security services had been arresting people linked to the plot since 8 December.

It said the head of the plot was the president of the Chadian Human Rights Organisation, Baradine Berdei Targuio.

Chad has been relatively unstable since April last year when the long-time ruler Idriss Déby died after visiting the front line to fight rebels.

His son, Mahamat Idriss Déby, then seized power.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

Interpol says a notorious people smuggler - accused of cruel and violent treatment of migrants - has been arrested in Sudan.

Kidane Zekarias Habtemariam, from Eritrea, was wanted by police in Ethiopia and the Netherlands.

The international policing agency said the Eritrean national headed a major criminal organisation behind the kidnapping, extortion and murder of East African migrants.

It said the arrest was the result of an international police operation.

This sounds like a rare breakthrough in the struggle to stop the cruel and unscrupulous traffickers who have caused the deaths of so many migrants.

Interpol said Mr Kidane was the kingpin of a criminal gang behind the trafficking of thousands of victims.

He was arrested after police in the United Arab Emirates focused on money laundering activities and found him in Sudan.

Interpol said this was a significant blow to a major smuggling route towards Europe. It said it showed what can be achieved when countries work together.

He was convicted in absentia and sentenced to life imprisonment after escaping from custody in Ethiopia while on trial on people smuggling charges in 2020.

His lawyer has previously denied the accusations against him.

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