For the first time in three years, all the land borders in Ivory Coast are now open.

"Favourable health and economic developments" since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic mean it is now safe to lift this restriction, say the country's council of ministers.

Another reason why land borders have reopened on Thursday is to crack down on illegal crossings and redirect travellers to official border posts instead.

RFI quotes Ivorian authorities as saying there was a "recent influx" of 8,700 refugees, external fleeing violence in Burkina Faso, who should be identified and processed through reception sites.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, Noticias

A Mozambican pastor has died after fasting for 40 days, in an attempt to copy what Jesus Christ is said to have done in the Bible.

The death of Francisco Barajah, the pastor and founder of the Santa Trindade Evangelical Church in the central province of Manica, was confirmed on Wednesday.

He died while being treated at hospital in Beira where he was evacuated in critical condition.

After 25 days of fasting, he had lost a lot of weight to a point where he could not stand up, bathe or walk.

Days later, at the insistence of relatives and believers, the 39-year-old was taken to a hospital but attempts to bring him back to health were unsuccessful.

Believers at his church and his neighbours have been unsurprised at the turn of events, due to his extreme weight loss and disfigured frame in recent days.

Emery Makumeno
BBC News, Kinshasa

Image source, AFP

The electoral body in the Democratic Republic of Congo says it has started voter registration in seven provinces in the eastern part of the country where millions of civilians have been displaced by fighting between the army and rebels.

It's the last round of voter registration ahead of general elections scheduled for December this year.

The Independent National Electoral Commission said voters will be registered in the volatile provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, as well as in the US and Canada.

Voter registration across the country started in December and has so far seen at least 12 million people register as voters, according to the commission.

The violence in the eastern part of the country is estimated to have displaced some 5.6 million people who are in dire need of food and shelter, according to the UN

Hanna Temuari
BBC News, Addis Ababa

Image source, Welkite FM

Ethiopian security forces killed at least three people when they fired at people protesting against water shortage of water in the southern town of Wolkite, residents have told the BBC.

Some five other people sustained injuries during the protests on Wednesday, they added.

The residents were angered by worsening water shortage in the town and held a protest in front of the city’s water management office.

“We have waited long to hold demonstrations. We came out today hoping we would get [solutions]. But things have turned into guns and blood,” one resident told the BBC.

The BBC’s attempts to speak to district officials have not been successful.

Nkechi Ogbonna
West Africa Business Journalist, BBC News

Image source, AFP

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the country's central bank to release the old 200 naira banknotes back into circulation and run concurrently with the new ones till 10 April.

The old 200 naira banknotes will then cease to be valid.

Meanwhile, the old 500 and 1,000 naira banknotes are no longer valid and must be taken to the central bank through designated channels, he says.

Nigerians have faced long queues at cash machines with some sleeping outside banks to try and be the first in line to get some money.

There have been angry protests in towns and cities as people struggle to get hold of the new banknotes.

Nigeria last year started circulating newly designed 200, 500 and 1,000 naira notes.

The deadline to hand in old notes had been extended once to 10 February, after which the old notes would become invalid. The deadline was however suspended by the supreme court last week.

Hanna Temuari
BBC News, Addis Ababa

Image source, AFP

A row within the Ethiopian Orthodox church, the largest religious group in the country, has been resolved after a group of breakaway clergy held discussions with representatives from the main church, according to a statement from the church's leadership.

Senior government officials including Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed are said to have participated in the talks alongside elders appointed to reconcile the rival groups.

The synod, the church's leadership, had previously accused the authorities of supporting the breakaway clergy who are mostly from the Oromia region, where Mr Abiy hails from.

The state’s rights watchdog, the Ethiopian Human Right Commission, had accused security forces of applying excessive forces against followers of the main church.

At least eight people were killed in a town in Oromia.

As tensions grew, lawyers representing the main church said hundreds of adherents had been detained, including some who were taken to an army camp.

The row began when the breakaway archbishops appointed dozens of bishops without the knowledge of the church, accusing the synod of lacking diversity and failing to reach the faithful in their native language.

The breakaway clergy have now submitted a letter of apology to the synod and they are expected to be welcomed back.

According to the agreement, the three archbishops who had broken away from the church will keep their titles and reunite with the synod.

The 25 clergy they had appointed will lose their recent titles and retain the ones they were holding before.

A consensus has been reached to strengthen theological training colleges and universities that can reach the faithful through the Afaan Oromo language.

Anick and Destin were flown from a remote village of Muzombo to be separated.

Image source, Getty

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is due to address the nation on Thursday morning amid a shortage of the newly designed banknotes that has led to a lack of cash.

The presidency says Mr Buhari's address will start at 07:00 local time (06:00GMT), but gives no hint on what he will talk about.

Africa's biggest economy has witnessed angry protests in towns and cities as people struggle to get hold of the new banknotes.

Some customers in southern Nigeria's Warri and Benin City reportedly set fire to two commercial banks.

Nigerians have faced long queues at cash machines with some sleeping outside banks to try and be the first in line to get some money.

More on Nigeria's cash crisis:

• Nigeria's naira shortage: Banks attacked in Warri and Benin City

BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Tunisia’s main opposition coalition has described the string of arrests targeting critics of President Kais Saied as “repressive, violent and legally baseless”.

In recent days police have detained several prominent politicians, two judges, a leading journalist and a senior union official.

On Wednesday, the US said it was "deeply concerned" by the reported arrests in recent days.

"We respect the aspirations of the Tunisian people for an independent and transparent judiciary that is able to protect fundamental freedoms for all," State Department spokesman Ned Price said., external

Eighteen months ago President Saied shut down Tunisia’s parliament and moved to rule by decree before rewriting the country’s constitution.

He's been accused of mounting a coup.

The UN has voiced alarm over the arrests, but the president has insisted those detained are traitors, responsible for soaring price increases and severe food shortages.

Guy Bandolo
BBC News, Yaoundé

Image source, Getty Images

An enormous plume of dust from the Sahara desert threatens to sweep through half of Cameroon, the transport minister said on Wednesday.

If the forecast wind conditions are maintained the dust could cause road accidents due to reduced visibility, Ernest Ngalle Bibehe warned in a press statement.

The dust could also cause respiratory diseases, Mr Bibehe added.

The plume of dust is currently crossing Cameroon's Far North region and could reach four other regions in the coming days.

The minister has urged people to drive carefully and protect their eyes and noses appropriately.

Each year Cameroon experiences dust storms from the Sahara that cross the country from north to south.

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

With seven million registered voters, Nigeria's biggest city could hold the keys to the presidential villa.

Burkinabé filmmaker Idrissa Ouédraogo (21 January 1954 – 18 February 2018) was awarded the Grand Prix at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival for his film Tilaï. Much of Ouédraogo's work deals with the tensions between rural and city life and tradition and modernity in his native Burkina Faso. Matthew Sweet is joined by Boukary Sawadogo who teaches cinema studies at City College of New York and New Generation Thinker Sarah Jilani.

Boukary Sawadogo is the author of books including “West African Screen Media: Comedy, TV Series, and Transnationalization” and “African Film Studies: An Introduction”

Producer: Torquil MacLeod

Judges dismiss Mohammed El Zubaidy's sentence appeal after he was jailed for a fifth time.

The new docudrama is seeking to relate Africa's pre-colonial, female-focused history.

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

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

A reminder of Wednesday's wise words:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with photo of people crossing the border between Ghana and its northern neighbour Burkina Faso

Two banks are reportedly set on fire by customers angered by a lack of new banknotes.

Students from Thanet visit the Maasai Mara reserve in a trip funded by presenter Steve Backshall.

BBC Focus on Africa radio

A Kenyan senator has defended her decision to walk into parliament with a period stain on her trousers on Tuesday.

Gloria Orwoba was ordered to leave the chamber by the speaker, who said she needed to go and change her clothes.

Proceedings were disrupted by some lawmakers who accused her of an "inappropriate dress code".

In a BBC Focus on Africa radio interview, Ms Orwoba said that "what happened yesterday at the senate was an accident", but when the sergeant at arms tried to "cover me" and get her back into her car she decided to "walk the talk":

Ms Orwoba added:

After leaving the senate building, Ms Orowba did not change her clothes. She spoke to the media and then visited a school in the capital, Nairobi, to distribute sanitary pads.

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

At least seven people have been killed and more than 230 buildings damaged following heavy rains in Moozambique's western Tete province, officials have said.

Four people died in lightning strikes, and one each from an attack by a crocodile, from being washed away by flood waters, and from being crushed after a wall collapsed, officials added.

A total of 228 homes and four churches were damaged in the floods.