Desperate to reach Mayotte, Christian Ally Moussa boarded a small fishing boat in Madagascar.

The vaccine - R21 - was up to 80% effective in early-stage clinical trials.

British troops can now be tried for murder committed against Kenyans in Kenya.

That is all from the BBC Africa Live team for now, we will be back on Thursday morning. There will be an automated news feed here until then.

You can also get the latest on the BBC News website and listen to the Africa Today podcast.

A reminder of Wednesday's wise words:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with a worker leaning on a collapsed pylon in South Africa's capital, Pretoria, earlier in the day as he and a team tried to fix it and six others. They fell down on Sunday after being looted by vandals:

Image source, AFP

Online streaming giant Netflix has said that it plans to expand operations in Africa, saying its $175m (£140m) investment on the continent since 2016 has already created some hit shows.

The announcement was made at an event in Johannesburg where Netflix launched a report on its impact in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, external.

According to the report, the company has created 12,000 jobs on the continent and intends to build on this success beyond just three countries.

“We have undertaken this report to reflect on Netflix’s social and economic impact in the key countries," Netflix's sub-Saharan Africa policy director, Shola Sanni, said in its introduction.

"We are still in many ways at the inception stages of our investment journey, so it’s doubly exciting to know that we are poised to deliver even greater impact if we maintain our current momentum - and if the right circumstances for investments in our sector continue to prevail."

She pointed to African productions like Silverton Siege (South African), Aníkúlápó (Nigerian) and Disconnect: The Wedding Planner (Kenyan) as all having at one point made it into Netflix Global Top 10 lists.

However to keep telling African stories on a global stage, Netflix needed to have the support of “governments, civil society, private sector and industry” to allow the create industries to thrive, Ms Sanni said.

“Enabling policy frameworks, flexible regulatory mandates and ease of doing business are inextricably bound to the continued growth of the audio-visual sector and streaming services.”

A document leak revealed that Egypt secretly planned to supply rockets to Russia.

Akeder Issa
BBC Tigrinya

Image source, SHABAIT

A doctor caring for two-month-old conjoined twins in Eritrea has appealed for help to determine whether they can be separated.

Dr Zemichael Oqbe told BBC Tigrinya that the girls, born in the city of Keren, were joined at their heads and would need further MRI and CT scans, which cannot be done in Eritrea.

The chief of the neonatal section at Orotta National Referral Hospital in the capital, Asmara, said despite this the twins were in a good condition at present.

Any operation to separate them would only be considered when the girls were older - aged around two years old.

However, the hospital's MRI imaging system was so “limited” that medics had been unable to determine which area of the brain the twins shared, Dr Zemichael said.

A precise and sophisticated MIR system could tell if they had their own separate brains, he said.

Any operation would require a team of highly qualified surgeons and medical professionals. Eritrea’s health system is one of the poorest in the world so this would need to be done abroad.

The costs of travelling outside the country and paying for such medical treatment is incredibly high and it is reportedly impossible for the twins' family, who are from a remote village.

Eritreans in the diaspora have raised money before to pay for the expensive medical treatment.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

MPs in Kenya have approved a proposal to amend a defence agreement with the UK following allegations that troops training there had committed serious crimes including a murder.

The Kenyan parliament's Defence Committee proposed the changes because of the lack of progress in trying to get justice for the murder of a 21-year-old woman in 2012.

Agnes Wanjiru's body was found after she had been in the company of British soldiers.

Under the current agreement between the two countries a British soldier cannot be tried under Kenyan law for murder.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Reuters

Businesses have been reopening in towns and cities across Ethiopia's Amhara region following six days of violent protests over plans to reorganise the armed forces.

At least five people have died in the demonstrations.

People took to the streets after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said he intended to integrate the country's regional forces into one national army in order to improve security and unity.

Some in Amhara fear that without its own special forces the region would be more vulnerable to attacks.

The troops from Amhara fought alongside the Ethiopian army in the recent war in the northern Tigray region.

Peter Mwai
BBC Reality Check

A Kenyan politician who tweeted a photo saying a cow belonging to the country's president had given birth to triplets said the post was not intended to be taken literally.

Samson Cherargei's tweet sparked a backlash online with many quick to point out the image had been shared on the Facebook page of a German company dealing with bull semen in late January.

Its post says the calves were born at a dairy farm in Lichtenau in southern Germany:

The senator from Nandi County in the Rift Valley region, where President William Ruto enjoys strong support, said his caption made it clear it was a symbolic image to represent the president's expected achievements having taken office last September.

Mr Cherargei was not the first to start the online rumour that a cow belonging the president had had triplets. But another tweeted photo of his supposed triplet calves, external was taken on a farm in the US state of Pennsylvania, external.

The rumour seems to have started when photos surfaced of Mr Ruto working on his farm over the Easter weekend.

The BBC has asked President Ruto’s spokesperson whether any cows had given birth to triplets at his farm but is yet to get a response.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, AFP

There are reports from the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo of fighting involving M23 rebels near the city of Goma.

This week the rebels have been withdrawing from towns they had seized in recent months.

This has brought hope that a peace agreement would see an end to the violence which has displaced more than 750,000 people in North Kivu province.

Correspondents say Wednesday's violence does not appear to have involved Congolese government troops and so is not seen as a major setback to the peace process.

Militia who have been fighting alongside the Congolese army appear to be provoking the M23 by attacking.

Mike Thomson
BBC World Service News

Syria is to reopen its diplomatic mission in Tunisia after more than a decade.

The decision follows an announcement by Tunisia’s President Kais Saied that his country would reopen its embassy in Damascus.

Syria’s relations with Arab states have recently improved. President Bashar al-Assad has visited both the United Arab Emirates and Oman and has held talks with Saudi Arabia.

Later this week nine Arab countries are due to meet in Riyadh to discuss moves to end Damascus’s isolation since the start of Syria’s long civil war.

Patience Atuhaire
BBC News, Kampala

Image source, Reuters

A Ugandan cabinet minister charged over a scandal involving the theft of thousands of metal roofing sheets has been denied bail for a second time.

A magistrate at the anti-corruption court ruled that the sureties offered up by Mary Goretti Kitutu Kimono’s lawyers were not sufficient.

Mrs Kitutu was remanded in custody last Thursday after pleading not guilty to corruption over 14,500 corrugated iron sheets intended for vulnerable communities in the north-eastern Karamoja region that went missing.

The 60-year-old politician is the minister for the region that for decades has faced persistent droughts and flooding when it rains, leaving many in the semi-arid area dependent on aid.

At least 10 other senior government figures are alleged to have received some of the stolen metal sheets.

These include the vice-president, the prime minister, the parliamentary Speaker and other ministers.

Earlier this week, police said more files related to the scandal had been sent to the prosecutors and indictments may follow.

President Yoweri Museveni has said those who took the corrugated iron must return them or pay back the cash equivalent.

Mike Thomson
BBC World Service News

Ten people trying to reach Europe have drowned off the coast of Tunisia after their boat was wrecked at sea.

Coastguards say 72 of those onboard - all of who were from sub-Saharan Africa - were rescued near the port city of Sfax.

Tunisia has taken over from Libya as the main departure point for people fleeing poverty and conflict in Africa and the Middle East.

The Tunisian National Guard says 14,000 migrants have been rescued in the first three months of this year - five times more than in the same period last year.

Image source, AFP

Police in Tanzania are holding 63 Ethiopian migrants after their arrest in the south-western Njombe region, near the border with Malawi.

Njombe regional police commander Hamis Issah said the migrants were arrested after their lorry was involved in an accident over the weekend.

Mr Issah said about 100 Ethiopian immigrants sneaked into the country through the porous border between Tanzania and Kenya.

About 40 others are said to be on the run.

Ethiopian migrants seeking better living conditions in South Africa often transit through Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique to reach their destination.

Local media say Tanzania is detaining more than 4,000 irregular migrants and often repatriates those willing to return home.

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, AFP

Nigeria’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec), has asked an election court to dismiss challenges to the outcome of the presidential election held in February.

Bola Tinubu of the ruling APC party was declared the winner with 37%. But his opponents, second-placed Atiku Abubakar and third-placed Peter Obi, have rejected the results and they want the election tribunal to nullify the result.

In its defence at the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal, the electoral commission described the petitions filed by the opposition candidates as “grossly incompetent, vague and academic”.

It said they were "an abuse of the court process".

Inec has previously apologised for "technical glitches" that hindered the electronic transmission of results from polling stations.

It said that any discrepancies between results on its website and "physical results" would be investigated and resolved.

The electoral process was criticised by observer groups as falling short of required standards.

More on this topic:

• Can Nigeria's election result be overturned?
• Exploring the rigging allegations

Image source, Namibian presidency/Twitter

Namibia's presidency has dismissed reports that the country's Vice-President Nangolo Mbumba was planning to retire.

A local newspaper on Saturday quoted Mr Mbumba as saying his days in government were numbered and that he was not planning to seek any other state job.

Mr Mbumba also urged the young people to take charge of their own affairs and those of the country.

But the president's office said it would be "strange" for Mr Mbumba to announce his retirement plans at a public meeting, according to state-run NBC website., external

It said the vice-president serves at the behest of the president.

Mr Mbumba, 81, was first appointed to the position in 2018 following the resignation of Nickey Iyambo, who retired for medical reasons.

In 2020 elections, President Hage Geingob retained Mr Mbumba as his deputy.

President Geingob is due to step down next year after serving two terms.

He has named Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah as the candidate for the ruling Swapo party in the 2024 elections.

Image source, AFP

The Kenyan authorities have penalised an online lender $3,700 (£3,400) over allegations of intruding and sharing customers’ personal data.

It followed complaints lodged against it by users over personal data breaches.

The Office of Data Protection said it received close to 150 complaints against Whitepath Ltd, alleging the lender's mobile app was mining phone contacts data to engage in debt-shaming practices.

The lender's staff were also accused of harassing the complainants and their friends and relations through phone contacts obtained irregularly.

A company that sells office space, Regus Kenya, was also fined a similar amount after being accused of spamming complainants despite efforts to make them stop.

Kenya's data commissioner, Immaculate Kassait, said that data protection was the responsibility of every data controller and processor.

Read more on this topic:

• Kenya outrage over debt collectors' shaming tactics

Image source, Melanie Robinson / Twitter

Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa has accepted an invitation to attend King Charles III's coronation, which will take place on 6 May at Westminster Abbey in London.

The UK ambassador in Zimbabwe met the president on Tuesday in the capital, Harare, to discuss about the coronation.

Ambassador Melanie Robinson tweeted a picture, external of the meeting in which they also talked about "trade, investment projects and the importance of peaceful, free and fair elections later this year".

"The president has been invited and has accepted that invitation and will be travelling to London for that," Ms Robinson is quoted as saying by the state-owned Herald newspaper.

The UK's relationship with Zimbabwe soured following land reforms implemented during the tenure of former long-time ruler Robert Mugabe.

In 2003, Zimbabwe pulled out of the Commonwealth with Mr Mugabe referring to it as an "Anglo-Saxon unholy alliance against Zimbabwe" when the group complained about the country's human rights record.

Mr Mugabe was overthrown in 2017, dying nearly two years later, and his successor, President Mnangagwa, has sought to improve relations with the country's critics.

A Commonwealth delegation visited the country last year to consider the country's readmission.

But the US and the European Union both retain sanctions against companies and officials in Zimbabwe, including President Mnangagwa.

More on this topic:

• Zimbabwe without Robert Mugabe: What has changed?

Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News, Addis Ababa

At least two civilians who had sheltered in a displacement camp have been killed during clashes in the Ethiopian city of Debrebirhan as protests intensify in the country’s Amhara region, residents have told the BBC.

Protests broke out last week when Ethiopia’s federal government announced a plan to dissolve Amhara's regional special forces. Locals fear the move could leave the region undefended against attacks.

The reforms are among stipulations of a peace deal between the federal government and former rebels from the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) signed last November to end the conflict.

Residents have told the BBC that Tuesday’s clashes between federal security forces and local militias in Debrebirhan, 130km (80 miles) north of the capital, Addis Ababa, lasted for hours.

According to one resident, the two individuals killed had been sheltering in a camp in the city after fleeing ethnic-based violence in the western Oromia region. The BBC has not been able to independently confirm this.

Another resident said protesters raided a police building in the city, vowing to free people detained in connection with a massive anti-government rally on Sunday.

There have been eight different statements from federal and regional authorities since the protests began in which they argue that the integration of the special forces into the national army or police will strengthen the country’s security apparatus, but the protests have continued.

Unrest was also reported in the Amhara capital, Bahirdar, on Tuesday.

In the latest statement, the head of the ruling Prosperity Party’s regional branch blamed the violence on “failure to create awareness”, and said the government was ready to resolve any issues through dialogue.