Image source, Getty Images

Children were injured on Thursday when railing collapsed at a stadium in Sierra Leone where the president and first lady were distributing free sanitary pads, news agencies report.

Videos on social media show crowds rushing out of a stadium in the city of Bo, with many carrying people who appeared to be injured, the AFP news agency reports.

“My heart goes out to all the children affected and the families of the kids that sustained injuries in the unfortunate incident at the Bo Stadium today,” President Julius Maada Bio tweeted.

“Our medical team are working assiduously to administer medical attention to the injured.”

The number of casualties was not immediately clear.

The accident happened when a "short section of metal guardrail on one of the levels of the stadium came apart", a statement from the government’s office of the press secretary is quoted as saying.

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It would normalise relations between Israel and another member of the Arab League.

South Africa beat India by five wickets in the Women's T20 World Cup in East London in their first match since van Nierkerk and Kapp's squads omissions.

That's all for now from the BBC Africa Live team, but we'll be back on Friday morning.

Until then you can find the latest updates on the BBC News website, or listen to our Africa Today podcast.

Today's wise words:

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And we leave you with this picture of Asunta Santino preparing flowers at the St Theresa Cathedral Parish ahead of Pope Francis's visit to Juba on Friday:

Image source, Reuters

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Emergency agencies say efforts are ongoing to rescue unidentified number of people trapped in a building which collapsed on Thursday in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

The three-storey building, which was under construction, is in Gwarinpa, a residential suburb.

Nkechi Isa, spokesperson for the Federal Capital Territory Management Agency, said in a statement that at least 19 people had so far been rescued with one fatally injured.

She said the victims, mostly construction workers, had been taken to hospitals around the city centre.

A combined team of emergency and security agencies went to the scene to help with the rescue. Some construction companies with heavy duty equipment have also moved in to help in the rescue efforts.

BBC World Service

Burkina Faso's Prime Minister, Apollinaire Kyelem de Tambela, has suggested that the country should form a federation with neighbouring Mali.

He said the economies of both countries were based on cotton, cattle and gold, and forming a common market would provide more financial clout.

Both countries are military-led and fighting Islamist insurgencies. They have also recently ordered the French military to withdraw.

Mali has invited in Russian Wagner Group mercenaries, meanwhile Burkina Faso is reportedly considering the idea.

There's been no response from Mali to the suggestion.

The two landlocked Sahel countries rank among the world's poorest nations in the world, and have remained politically unstable since independence from France in 1960.

There's growing anxiety for some in Nigeria as they desperately try to swap their old naira notes for the new ones before the 10 February deadline.

After that date, the old cash will be worthless but can be exchanged for a further seven days at the country's central bank. But it seems that there are not enough of the new notes to go around which has sparked anger and some spontaneous protests at banks.

Videos and pictures of some people stripping to their underwear are being shared on social media.

A video of people fighting over access to an ATM has also got a lot of attention.

The deadline to exchange the money was supposed to have been 31 January, but it was extended by 10 days to give more people in rural areas time to get the new notes, the central banks' governor had said.

When the bank announced in October that the 1,000 ($2.18, £1.75), 500 and 200 naira notes were to be replaced, it said 80% of the notes in circulation were outside banks.

The central bank believes that with the redesigned currency it will have a better understanding of the money circulating in the economy so it can better manage inflation.

Read more on this story:

• Nigeria's CBN naira deadline: Hunting out savings from under mattresses

Thomas Naadi
BBC News, Accra

Image source, Atubugri Simon Atule

Ghana's military has denied claims that its personnel were behind the killing of at least 10 civilians in the town of Bawku, in the north of the country, close to the border with Burkina Faso.

The civilians were killed in separate incidents and Mahama Ayariga, MP for Bawku Central, condemned the incidents. He accused the military of being behind the deaths and called for an immediate investigation.

Eyewitnesses told the BBC that they saw armed men in military uniform chasing and shooting at civilians on Wednesday. They added that in the Missiga district of Bawku alone, eight people were killed including a 12-year-old boy who was burnt to death in a grain silo. He had run to hide there during the attack.

The military high command had earlier issued a statement warning people to desist from wearing military uniforms. They indicated they had arrested one person for re-spraying a vehicle in military colours in Bawku over a month ago.

The ethnic tensions in the town and threats from jihadists operating in Burkina Faso have prompted a heavy military presence in the area.

The Bawku township is currently under curfew.

The bodies of the deceased have since been buried.

Mercy Juma
BBC News, Juba

People are descending on South Sudan's capital, Juba, in order to welcome Pope Francis when he arrives on Friday.

He will be travelling from the Democratic Republic of Congo with a message of peace for the conflict-ridden country.

The BBC met a group of Catholics who had walked for nine days from Rumbek - some 300km (190 miles) north-west of Juba.

“When the spirit is with you, you do not get tired. We are here to get the blessings of the Pope. I am confident that with his blessings, things will change for this country,” one woman told the BBC.

South Sudan has been fractured by civil war and political instability since gaining independence in 2011.

The Church is seen as a symbol of hope by many. It is where many sought refuge when war broke out.

The people are confident that the pontiff's presence will change the tide for their country.

“He is a prophet and whatever he prays in the next few days, while on our soil, will come to pass. Things will be different. We are going to be one people.”

In 2019 the Pope kissed the feet of South Sudan’s bitter political rivals President Salva Kiir and his deputy Riek Machar when they met at the Vatican. An act that shocked many, even if it did not end the fighting.

The Pope is due to spend three days in the country and will hold a Mass on Sunday.

He will be in South Sudan with two other Christian leaders - from the Anglican and Presbyterian churches.

Clarisse Fortuné
BBC News

Image source, US District Court (MA)

A Kenyan national living in the US has been fined and jailed for her role in helping to organise romance scams and pandemic unemployment fraud.

Florence Mwende Musau, 38, was sentenced by a US court to 44 months in prison. Musau was also ordered to pay almost $1m (£810,000) in restitution to the victims and to forfeit approximately $350,000 and a Lexus SUV.

Musau was charged in 2021, along with with five others, in connection with their roles in the online scams in which the victims collectively lost more than $4m.

The US authorities said the group used fake passports and numerous aliases to open bank accounts in and around Boston to collect and launder the proceeds of the romance scams.

"Musau also received the proceeds of fraudulent state pandemic unemployment assistance benefits in the names of victims," the US Attorney's Office said.

"As part of the scheme, Musau used at least three different aliases to open nearly 10 fraudulent bank accounts and receive approximately $1m in fraud proceeds," a statement added.

Southampton record signing Kamaldeen Sulemana says he and Ghanaian football can only benefit from the experience of the disappointing group stage exit at the World Cup.

Shingai Nyoka
BBC News, Harare

Zimbabwean non-governmental organisations (NGOs) fear that the government could close them down after the Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that gives the government greater control over their operations.

The Private Voluntary Organisation Amendment bill was initially crafted to combat international money laundering, according to the Ministry of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.

It was expanded to regulate operations of NGOs and how they are funded.

The Zimbabwean government has often accused Western governments of using NGOs to destabilise the country to benefit the opposition.

NGOs have increased in number in Zimbabwe to provide services to communities struggling with the economic crisis.

The National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (Nango), an umbrella body with close to 800 active members, believes that some of the bill’s clauses are repressive and will limit work in vulnerable communities.

“Right now, we have seen a decline in inflow of funding and some development partners are hesitant to issue grants,” Nango director Ernest Nyimai told the BBC.

“Some partners have said they will leave if the law is enacted,” he added.

Nango’s diverse membership offers an array of services including healthcare, distributing medicines to at-risk communities, financing income generating projects and food distribution.

Veritas, an organisation which analyses Zimbabwe’s laws and the work of parliament, believes that sections of the bill violate the constitution’s right to freedom of speech and association.

Among other concerns, it says the proposed law will give the minister of public service power to control associations of any kind - companies, partnerships, social clubs and trusts - and that there will be no appeal against a decision made against an organisation.

The government says the law will stop international organisations from channelling funds to the opposition through the NGOs.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa now has 21 days to sign or reject the bill.

Last month, Zimbabwe deregistered 291 NGOs citing their failure to submit annual tax returns, as well as national security reasons and allegedly straying from their mandate.

Emmanuel Igunza
BBC News, Nairobi

Reports from South Sudan say heavily armed men loyal to a rebel general have been mobilising in numbers in the north, which has recently seen some of the country’s worst ethnic violence.

The fighters are allied to Gen Johnson Olony, a military commander who opposes the transitional government in South Sudan.

He has been fighting government forces since September 2019, when he announced he would replace South Sudanese Vice-President Riek Machar as the leader of oppposition forces.

UN peacekeepers have now been deployed to the area where fighting between his forces and government troops has already killed hundreds of people and and forced tens of thousands from their homes.

The tensions come as people displaced around the country by inter-ethnic fighting were beginning to return to their homes.

The UN says this build-up is a threat to the civilians and could affect humanitarian operations in the volatile region.

South Sudan has continued to experience widespread violence and ethnic tensions, despite a 2018 peace deal signed by rivals President Salva Kiir and former rebel leader and now Vice-President Machar.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, Alberto Francisco

Errors have been detected in Mozambique textbooks for the second year despite recent assurances by the education ministry that it would not happen again.

Some errors were reported in Grade Six books last year – and this year the irregularities have surfaced in textbooks for the fifth and eighth grades.

A book published by Plura Editora for the Portuguese subject for Grade Eight starts on page 16, with the preceding pages misplaced elsewhere in the book.

On the first page, the book is printed upside down and a student would have to turn it over to read after opening the cover. Some other pages are also upside down.

In addition, photos of two same Portuguese subject textbooks for fifth grade with completely different covers have been shared on social media.

The first has a cover photograph of a girl smiling and dressed in a brown and white pullover, while the second shows a girl in a blue blouse and holding a pencil.

The errors were noted as schools throughout the country re-opened this Wednesday, with pictures of the errors being shared on social media.

A spokesman for the education ministry, Feliciano Mahalambe, recently gave assurances that the books that were due for distribution this year had been prepared and reviewed by a fully qualified team to avoid past mistakes.

A Grade Six book was withdrawn from schools last year after the discovery of errors including the erroneously listing of Mozambique as being in the East African region rather than a country in the Southern African region and showed landlocked Zimbabwe as bordering the Red Sea.

Mayeni Jones
BBC News, Lagos

Image source, Leigh Day

More than 13,000 people from two communities in Nigeria have filed individual claims against the oil company Shell at the High Court in London.

Residents from the Ogale and Bille communities in the Niger Delta want Shell to clean up oil spills and compensate them for the damage to their land.

The claims, which were filed on Friday, are the latest development in a seven-year legal battle.

A spokesperson for the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) told the BBC that the majority of spills referred to in the Ogale and Bille claims were caused by third-party interference, including pipeline sabotage, illegal bunkering and other forms of oil theft.

Abimbola Essien-Nelson added that the illegal refining of stolen crude oil also happened on a large scale in these areas and was a major source of oil pollution.

Regardless of the cause, she said: "SPDC has and will continue to clean up and remediate areas affected by spills from its facilities or pipeline network."

But the British law firm representing the communities says that no clean-up has taken place and that there have been 55 new oil spills in the Ogale community since September 2011.

A press release from the Leigh Day firm states Shell has filed a legal defence claiming that the communities do not have the legal right to enforce a clean-up against Shell.

Both communities are in Ogoniland, one of the most polluted regions in the world.

Despite a 2011 UN report recommending that the area be cleaned up immediately, residents still don’t have access to clean water and farmland.

In 2021 Shell announced it was leaving Nigeria and selling its onshore assets in the country after operating in the country for 80 years.

Shell has reported record annual profits after energy prices surged last year following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It made $39.9bn (£32.2bn) in 2022, the highest in its 115-year history.

More on the oil industry in Nigeria:

• Nigeria's illegal oil refineries: Dirty, dangerous, lucrative
• Slick: The Story of Oil, Shell and Nigeria

Clarisse Fortuné
BBC News

Image source, EPA

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is on an official visit to Morocco, aimed at mending ties following a deep diplomatic crisis between the two countries.

"The better the relations are between Morocco and Spain, the better it is for Spain, for Morocco, for Europe, for business, and for the citizens of both countries," Mr Sanchez said at an economic forum in Rabat.

He and a dozen Spanish ministers are set to meet top members of the Moroccan government on Thursday.

They are expected to sign some 24 deals including Spanish investments in the kingdom and on partnerships in areas from culture and education to desalination and rail transport, Spanish government sources said.

This visit comes amid disputes over migration and territory and after Madrid reversed decades of neutrality on the Western Sahara conflict to back Morocco's position.

Also Spain's North African enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta - which both border Morocco - have long been magnets for people fleeing violence and poverty across Africa, seeking refuge via the continent's only land frontiers with the European Union.

Tensions were strained last year after the deaths of at least 23 sub-Saharan migrants who were attempting to cross from Morocco to the Spanish enclave of Melilla.

Image source, EPA

Pope Francis has called on young people in the Democratic Republic of Congo to put aside ethnic differences and build a new future.

"Beware of the temptation to point a finger at someone, to exclude another person because he or she is different; beware of regionalism, tribalism, or anything that makes you feel secure in your own group," he told an estimated 65,000 youths at a stadium in capital, Kinshasa, the Reuters news agency reports.

"You are part of a greater history, one that calls you to take an active role as a builder of communion, a champion of fraternity, an indomitable dreamer of a more united world."

He also spoke about corruption saying that people should "never give in to [its] persuasive but poisonous temptations".

His comments come on his last full day of his trip to the central African nation.

On Wednesday he addressed huge crowds at a Mass in Kinshasa with a strong message of peace for those engaging in conflict in the country.

Thursday's speech looked more at the "ingredients for the future".

The Pope is due to go on to South Sudan on Friday.

Image source, EPA

Meet the women who are breaking boundaries and living their lives while wearing a hijab.

A play tower in a children‘s park in central Uganda has been repainted after its initial rainbow colours sparked concern.

Photos of the tower in rainbow colours were criticised by some Ugandans who saw it as promoting acceptance of homosexuality among children.

Homosexual acts are illegal in Uganda.

In a statement, external, the Mayor of Entebbe said: "For years, the children of Uganda have only understood the rainbow is a beautiful arch of colours and biblically it reflects the beauty and majesty of God. It is unfortunate that certain movements have decided to use the rainbow to represent and reflect, certain acts that go against the norms of the people of Uganda."

He said the municipality had partnered with a local organisation to renovate the park and make it safer for children, but took note of reactions to the makeover.

"The concerns raised by the public were heeded to and the rainbow painting was removed from the children's park," Mayor Fabrice-Blad Rulinda said.

Twitter users have shared before and after photos of the play tower: