Image source, getty

Traders in a Tanzanian district have been banned from displaying scantily clad mannequins outside their premises.

The directive is meant to protect the country's values, said Rashid Msaraka, the head of Unguja town district in the country's islands of Zanzibar.

In an interview with a popular blogger, Mr Msaraka said such mannequins could still be displayed inside shops.

He said the scantily clad mannequins lined outside premises were visible to schoolchildren and youth and had the potential of distracting their minds.

"We have received complaints from people who are concerned about the psychological effects. I know other districts will also follow suit," he said.

Richard Wheatley
BBC News

Image source, AFP

The foreign ministers of Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso are in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, ahead of an African Union summit to lobby to be let back into the organisation.

All three countries were suspended from the African Union and the regional grouping Ecowas following military coups.

Mali's foreign ministry said the suspensions were hindering the desire of all three Sahel countries to make the transition back to civilian rule.

The ministers will not be able to participate in the summit but say they have met foreign ministers from the hosts Ethiopia and the Comoros Islands who currently hold the presidency of the AU.

Image source, Getty Images

A request by a provincial government for a state funeral to be given to a popular South African rapper murdered last week has been denied by the president, local media report.

Gauteng’s premier Panyaza Lesufi had written to President Cyril Ramaphosa requesting permission to give slain rapper Kiernan Forbes, popularly known as AKA, a state funeral.

On Thursday, Mr Lesufi said his request had been denied.

He said he had not requested for state funds for the funeral, but for the coffin to be draped with the national flag and flags to be flown at half-mast in honour of the rapper.

“We felt that the person of his international stature, person of his national stature, there must be some form of honour, and we want to clarify it is not a financial contribution,” he is quoted as saying.

A public memorial for the rapper is taking place on Friday. He will be buried on Saturday.

More on this story:

• AKA: The murdered rapper from South Africa 'destined for greatness'

Our proverb of the day:

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Defending champion Joshua Cheptegei says the field for the revived World Cross Country Championships is "one of the strongest ever assembled".

One of the three old banknotes will be reintroduced following angry protests around the country.

The Mozambican priest suffered organ failure after almost four weeks without food or drink.

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.

A reminder of Thursday's wise words:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this shot of Moroccan artist M'hammed Kilito with his works:

Thomas Naadi
BBC News, Accra

Ghana’s bid to get out of an economic crisis has pushed the government to tinker with the savings of the country’s pensioners, triggering protests and picketing of some pensioner bondholders.

The government’s hope to qualify for $3bn (£2.5bn) in IMF bailout money requires it to readjust its investment bonds, to be able to bring the country’s debt to a sustainable level.

The government desperately needs a deal with the IMF by the end of next month ,as the country faces its worst economic crisis in decades.

Pensioners who have invested in the government’s bond fear they could lose their money or part of it.

To reassure the investors, Ghana’s Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta has said that individual pensioners who had invested in the bonds will be exempted from the country’s Domestic Dept Exchange Programme.

The minister told parliament on Thursday that the interest on the investments including principal amounts would be paid when the date is due.

But the problem is that pensioner bonds that matured in early February were not paid. The government is seeking to exchange the bonds for new ones with a 3.5% cut on the return of their investment including deferred date of payment due to the risk of default. The finance ministry also indicated that it was voluntary for them to accept.

The minister was summoned to parliament to explain the reasons for not exempting the pensioner bondholders. His ministry on Tuesday indicated that it had achieved 85% participation in the programme, though analysts are casting doubt on the percentage.

BBC World Service

The authorities in Somalia say their troops have killed 300 al-Shabab militants in the south of the country.

They say the operation, in Hirshabelle province, was supported by air strikes involving international partners.

Al-Shabab Islamists have recently been losing control of swathes of territory in central and southern Somalia..

The group has been waging an insurgency against the central government for more than 15 years.

There's been no comment from al-Shabab.

Ferdinand Omondi
BBC News, Nairobi

Image source, Getty Images

Israeli hackers allegedly hacked into the private conversation of two aides to Kenya’s President William Ruto during last year’s election, a new investigation has claimed.

The investigation - carried out by a consortium of journalists and published in outlets including Israel’s Haaretz and The Guardian of the UK - claims that days before Kenya’s 2022 election, a hacker "gave a demonstration of his capabilities, showing how he could use hacking techniques to infiltrate the messages of political advisers".

The undercover reporters, posing as potential clients, were given "a guided tour of the hacked Telegram and email accounts of five different targets in Kenya” including Dennis Itumbi, who was a political adviser for William Ruto, then vice president, and Davis Chirchir, the former chief of Staff.

The report identifies the alleged hackers as former Israeli special forces led by an operative called Tal Hanan. Mr Hanan is quoted as saying that he had led a team called "Team Jorge" to access Mr Chirchir and Mr Itumbi’s accounts as part of "an intelligence-gathering and disinformation campaign against Ruto’s campaign team".

Mr Itumbi has since said via his Twitter account that he was aware of "increased activity" on his Telegram account towards the end of last year’s campaign and he stopped using his Telegram for any communication.

The investigation does not reveal who hired the hacking team. Neither the state nor the opposition has commented on the report.

The alleged attempt at interference did not prevent Mr Ruto from being declared president. Main opposition leader Raila Odinga challenged the results on grounds that the final results were manipulated in favour of Mr Ruto, but his petition was thrown out by the courts because of insufficient evidence.

Simi Jolaoso
BBC News. Lagos

Image source, AFP

Police officers trained in election security will be present at every voting centre in Nigeria, says the head of the force, who is promising to do what he can to ensure a "peaceful and secure atmosphere" next Saturday.

Inspector General Usman Alkali Baba also says the more than 310,000 police officers deployed will be supported by more than 90,000 additional security agents, and will be given air and marine assistance.

He also mentioned illegal arms trafficking, cyberbullying and kidnapping as issues that need to be tackled to ensure the election takes place safely.

Some 93.5 million people are registered to vote in the 25 February general election, according to the election commission.

More on Nigeria's election:

• LAGOS STATE: Why this battle could decide Nigeria's election
• KATSINA STATE: 'You let kidnappers take me, now you want my vote'
• RIVERS STATE: The oil land with no electricity

Omar Wally
Journalist, The Gambia

Image source, Omar Wally/BBC

The trial of four military officers and a policeman accused of plotting to overthrow the Gambian president continued at a high court in Banjul on Thursday.

The five men, including alleged ringleader Lance Corporal Sana Fadera, were charged with five counts including treason and inciting mutiny.

Gambian authorities say they have secured worldwide red notice to arrest another suspect, army personnel Lamin Jadama, who is on the run.

A state witness - marabout and Islamic teacher Yaya Manjang - gave evidence in a court packed with families of the accused.

He told the court that police officer Fabakary Jawara visited his house with another man last year, with Mr Jawara allegedly asking for spiritual guidance because they intended to overthrow President Adama Barrow so as to rid The Gambia of poor living conditions and hardship.

Mr Manjang says that when the two men returned to his house the following day, he told them he couldn't offer them prayers but advised them to hand out bitter kola nuts as charity to seven mosques and also slaughter a white goat.

The marabout also says he advised Mr Jawara to travel toto Guinea-Conakry and Mauritania for more prayers, if he wanted the coup to succeed.

Days after that visit, the marabout left the country for Senegal and he heard the news of the coup plot on social media and upon his return, he was arrested and detained for several days before giving testimony to investigators.

Image source, AFP

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the resignation of his deputy, David Mabuza, thanking him for his "unwavering support" over the last five years.

Local reports say it comes as no surprise because Mr Mabuza had already announced earlier this month that he would be stepping down.

He will stay in the post until Mr Ramaphosa announces his successor, widely expected to be new ANC Deputy President Paul Mashatile.

A cabinet reshuffle is expected next week once South Africa's annual budget is announced.

The government is under pressure to prove it has the answers to the countries economic woes and rolling blackouts.

Grant Ferrett
BBC World Service Newsroom

Image source, AFP

Pope Francis has dismissed speculation that he plans to follow the example of his predecessor, Benedict, by retiring.

The Pope - who is 86 and often uses a wheelchair - said he believed that the job was for life. He added that historical tradition was important, and stepping down was not on his agenda.

The remarks were made during a meeting earlier this month in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but have only just been made public.

The death of Benedict at the end of last year had led some observers to suggest that Pope Francis might now consider stepping down due to ill-health

Jessica McCallin
BBC World Service Newsroom

Image source, Getty Images

A new study has found that companies are still making spurious claims about the nutritional value of baby formula, external despite rules designed to curb the way they are advertised.

Scientists from Imperial College London looked at how hundreds of breast milk substitutes were marketed in Nigeria and South Africa, as well as 13 other countries across the world.

They found that most products gave no scientific references for their health claims or made claims that are not supported by robust clinical evidence.

The researchers are calling for greater regulation and oversight.

The World Health Organization recommends that babies be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their lives.

Click here to read more on this story.

Anne Soy
BBC Africa correspondent

Image source, AFP

Illegal migration is now back to pre-pandemic levels, with Djiboutian authorities rescuing 383 undocumented Ethiopian migrants whose boat was at risk of capsizing in the Gulf of Aden in the past week alone, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) says.

The rise in immigration around the world is being driven by the impact of climate change as well as conflict and loss of livelihoods, says the UN migration agency.

It reports that last year there were 150,000 crossings along the "eastern route" - through Yemen and into Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.

But many die along the way. Many get stranded in war-torn Yemen and attempt to return to the coast of the Horn of Africa.

“I can’t give you [an exact] figure because lots of lives are lost without us even taking a record but definitely it’s one of the most dangerous and deadly routes in the world,” IOM director Antonio Vitorino told the BBC.

He says many set off on the perilous journeys, attracted by the “illusion” of a better life abroad but are oblivious to the dangers that lie along the way.

“Many of them don’t even know that there is a war in Yemen,” Mr Vitorino said.

He called for the opening up of legal and regular pathways for migration to reduce the pressure for migrants to look for risky routes.

“There’s need to be effective in identifying and prosecuting the criminal networks that violate the most basic human rights of the migrants by smuggling and trafficking,” he said.

He added that this calls for effective border controls and co-operation among law enforcement, as well as addressing the root causes of migration in the first place.

Kennedy Gondwe
BBC News, Lusaka

Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema says the country needs to double its power generation to grow the economy.

A recently released National Development Plan and Green Paper hopes to achieve the feat by 2030.

The country, Africa’s second-biggest copper producer, has an electricity generation capacity of 3,500 megawatts and last month signed a $2bn (£1.6bn) deal with the United Arab Emirates to build solar plants.

"We were only able to invest in 3,500MW in 57 years. This means we were sleeping on duty," President Hichilema said on Wednesday after he commissioned a 33MW solar plant in the northern town of Kitwe.

The head of Zambia's power supplier, Copperbelt Energy Corporation, said the country has potential to become a hub for regional power trade.

“Our energy resources should earn us a lot more of the much-needed foreign exchange and help power employment of more of our youths across various value chains,” Owen Silavwe said.

Three of Nigeria's biggest music artists are set to give an "Afrobeats-themed performance", external at one of the biggest sporting events in the US on Sunday.

Tems, Burna Boy and Rema have been confirmed as the half-time acts during the NBA All-star game in Utah, which is usually watched on TV by millions of people - though viewing figures have struggled in recent years.

Yasine Mohabuth
Port Louis, Mauritius

Image source, Science Photo Library

The Mauritius government says it's providing a guarantee for all people of Chagossian origin who wish to resettle in the Chagos archipelago to be able to do so.

Chagosians were forced off the island by British troops more than 50 years ago.

"All persons of Chagossian origin, wherever they live in the world, who wish to resettle will be able to do so in accordance with the laws of Mauritius," the Mauritian prime minister said in a statement.

It comes after the rights watchdog Human Rights Watch accused the UK of crimes against humanity in its refusal to allow a group of islanders to return to the archipelago.

The rights group said reparations should be paid to generations of people affected by the decision to depopulate the remote islands, deep in the Indian Ocean.

In the statement, Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth thanked HRW for its extensive research and said it was "committed to the implementation of an effective plan for resettlement".

“The government reiterates that it has always maintained that the forced exile of the entire Chagossian community was a terrible wrong and that justice must be done," he said.

Mr Jugnauth said he had a phone conversation with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak following the report, where they reviewed "ongoing negotiations on the exercise of sovereignty" over the islands.

In a report of more than 100 pages, the HRW relied on dozens of testimonies and official documents, accusing the UK and the United States of having committed crimes against humanity by displacing the indigenous population from the disputed archipelago.

That accusation was "categorically" rejected by London.

The HRW report comes as the UK is facing growing international condemnation for holding on to what it calls the “British Indian Ocean Territory,” with the UN’s International Court of Justice ruling that the continuing British occupation of the archipelago is illegal.

• Read: Chagos islanders in emotional, historic trip home