Thomas Naadi
BBC News, Accra

Image source, HAJIA4REALL/INSTAGRAM

Ghana's cyber security authority has issued an alert, warning people about the increasing rate of romance scams in the country.

The latest tactics sees people set up fake profiles on social media - especially dating apps, or sending unsolicited emails to establish intimate relationships with their targets.

Experts say fraudsters often do extensive research on victims through their social media habits. Once they gain their trust, they then exploit the victims for valuables such as money, property or investment.

They also take advantage of the person's vulnerabilities, such as loneliness or feeling of insecurity, and try as much as possible to avoid physical met up.

The authorities are advising the public not to provide financial assistance to someone they have only met online. They should also avoid sharing personal information or nude photographs with someone they have never met physically.

Last month a Ghanaian musician and influencer, Mona Montrage, popularly known as Hajia4Real, was arrested and extradited from the UK to the US to face trial on allegations of romance fraud.

She has since pleaded not guilty.

Listen to the podcast Love, Janessa for an insight as to how romance scams work.

Nduka Orjinmo
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, Godswill Akpabio/Twitter

The Nigerian Senate has elected a new president after a short voting process on Tuesday.

Godswill Akpabio, 60, of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) received 63 votes to defeat his rival, fellow party member Abdulaziz Yari.

Mr Akpabio was seen as the favourite going into the election and was backed by a majority of southern politicians for the post.

He will now lead 108 other senators who are being inaugurated on Tuesday.

Mr Akpabio, a former governor of Akwa Ibom state, was also a minister in the past administration.

A Nigerian chef who become a national sensation after cooking non-stop for more than 93 hours has been confirmed as the new world record-holder.

Politicians and celebrities cheered on Hilda Baci at her kitchen in Lagos during the four-day stint last month.

She used more than 100 dishes in the process and was only allowed to take a five-minute break each hour.

Baci beats the previous record holder Lata Tondon of India, who managed a time of 87 hours 45 minutes in 2019.

The Guinness Book of World Records, who adjudicated Baci's cooking marathon, have shared this video congratulating her:

Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Image source, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa/Twitter

Mozambique has offered to supply 100MW of electricity to neighbouring South Africa amid a supply deficit and regular blackouts.

The offer, announced in the South African capital Pretoria on Monday, follows a request by the South African government last month.

Mozambique's Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Carlos Zacarias said the commercial agreement defining the price and how and when the energy would be channelled to South Africa "should be closed very soon".

South Africa’s electricity minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgoba, said he was “happy” with the swift response by the Mozambican government, adding that technicians were working to make operations viable.

Mr Zacarias announced that Mozambique would make available, within six months, another 600MW of additional energy.

Image source, Igad Secretariat/Twiter

Eritrea has rejoined the East African regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad), after pulling out 16 years ago.

Information Minister Yemane Meskel tweeted on Monday that Eritrea "resumed its activity" and took its seat at the ongoing Igad summit in neighbouring Djibouti.

The regional grouping’s executive secretary, Workneh Gebeyehu, said he was "delighted to welcome Eritrea's Foreign Minister Osman Saleh" as he joined the meeting.

Eritrea suspended its membership of the body in 2007 in protest against Ethiopia's military intervention in Somalia and alleged manipulation of the organisation by external forces.

Igad is made up of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda.

Guy Bandolo
BBC News

Image source, AFP

John Fru Ndi, a towering figure in Cameroonian politics over several decades, has died aged 81.

He founded the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) in 1990 and was at the frontline of multi-party democracy in Cameroon, defending English-speaking minority rights in the country.

According to a press release from his SDF colleagues, Fru Ndi died in the capital, Yaoundé, on Monday evening after a long period of illness.

His career included several presidential bids and he claimed to have been the true winner of the 1992 election, that saw President Paul Biya re-elected.

Fru Ndi surprised everybody in 2018 when he decided not to run for top office.

He was preparing to retire as a leader of his political party later this year.

Image source, AFP

Sixty-five survivors of a Kenyan Christian cult are facing charges of attempted suicide after refusing to eat meals given to them at the rescue centre where they had been taken.

At court on Monday, the prosecution applied to have the survivors remanded in prison where mental and medical assessments could be done - as the rescue centre could no longer hold them. A ruling on the application is expected later in the week.

It is a criminal offence to take your own life in Kenya under laws introduced by British colonisers. Those same rules in England were scrapped more than 60 years ago and Kenyan campaigners are fighting to end them in their country too, external.

The 65 survivors are said to be followers of Pastor Paul Mackenzie, the alleged cult leader who is said to have convinced his congregants to fast to death in order to go to heaven.

Over 280 bodies have so far been recovered in shallow graves in the vast Shakahola forest near the coast where the pastor operated – 10 were exhumed on Monday.

Autopsy reports have shown that most of the victims, including children, died of starvation but some were strangled, beaten, or suffocated.

Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, Getty Images

Nigeria’s new President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed into law a student loan bill, a first of its kind in the country, that offers financial support for poorer students in higher education.

Local students in tertiary institutions such as universities, colleges and polytechnics will now be able to easily get interest-free loans from the Nigerian Education Loan Fund to cover tuition fees.

In November, the Nigerian parliament passed the legislation seeking to establish a national education bank to offer loans to students.

But former President Muhammadu Buhari failed to assent to the bill before leaving office on 29 May. No explanation was given for his inaction on this.

The bill was introduced in 2016 by Mr Tinubu's chief of staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, when he was the speaker of the House of Representatives.

He now says the "future of the country" is guaranteed, adding that "no Nigerian child [will] be denied access to tertiary education on account of lack of financial resources".

Beneficiaries of the loan are expected to start repayment as soon as they gain employment, following the completion of their studies and mandatory national service.

Before now, banks in Nigeria could only grant student loans to parents of the students with very stringent conditions.

Some students have had to drop out or get odd jobs to pay their way through college.

The Newsroom
BBC World Service

The government of Benin is recruiting a further 5,000 soldiers, following a rise in militant attacks on its northern border with Burkina Faso.

The new recruits will be required to know at least one of the languages spoken in the region, and will be given six months of training.

Jihadists are present in the vast Park W, a protected area of forest stretching across the borders of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger.

They've been using the reserve to launch attacks and infiltrate communities.

Islamists militants have displaced millions across West Africa's Sahel region, and their attacks have claimed the lives of tens of thousands.

Image source, Reuters

Kenya’s President William Ruto has expressed his country's commitment to a “face-to-face” meeting with the warring generals in Sudan in order to resolve the crisis there.

He said Kenya - as the chair of the regional “quartet” of countries on Sudan that also includes Ethiopia, Somalia and South Sudan - “commits to meet the two parties face-to-face to find a lasting solution”.

Fighting has been raging in Sudan since 15 April between the army, led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by former deputy military chief Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti.

Mr Ruto said the quartet leaders would in the next three weeks meet to “begin the process of an inclusive national dialogue” in Sudan.

In two weeks, a humanitarian corridor would also be established to allow the distribution of aid, according to a statement by the president's office after a summit of the regional bloc Igad in Djibouti.

Saudi Arabia and the US have been leading mediation efforts between the parties since the conflict began. Multiple ceasefire agreements since then have been broken.

The conflict has led to the deaths of hundreds of people, many others wounded and forced millions to flee.

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That's all from the Africa Live team for now and we'll leave you with an automated service.

You can also check out African news stories on the BBC News website or listen to the new Focus on Africa podcast.

A reminder of Monday's wise words:

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And we leave you with this picture of Ethiopian cyclist Welay Hagos Berhe competing in the Tour de Suisse currently under way in Switzerland:

Image source, EPA

Omar Wally
Gambian journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Gambian President Adama Barrow, who was re-elected in 2021, has hinted that he may run for a third term at the next election in 2026.

The Gambia does not have presidential term limits and the two previous presidents both served more than two decades in office.

During a meeting in the north of country President Barrow said those waiting for him to relinquish power have to wait a little longer.

The Gambian leader alleged that there were people going around telling Gambians that he wanted to step down and that they would soon take over the government. He said that he was not going anywhere.

Mr Barrow came to power in 2017, on an agreement that he would serve only three years and then step down - but he reneged on that campaign promise.

A new constitution drafted in 2019 included a two-term limit but was not passed by parliament.

BBC World Service

A Sudanese medic has told the BBC that RSF paramilitaries are conducting a reign of terror in the large parts of the capital they control.

Mohammed Gibbril said they were raiding and looting houses, taking hostages and patrolling the streets of Khartoum.

Some of those recruited to their fight against the Sudanese army were children.

Mr Gibbril said he had been severely beaten during one such raid last Monday.

Many similar claims have been made by other residents of Khartoum.

The RSF have said on Facebook that they're ready for a new ceasefire with the army.

The latest truce, which ended on Sunday, was better respected than previous ceasefires, though fighting has again erupted with witnesses reporting warplanes in the skies over Khartoum, and gun and shellfire.

Read more on this story:

• What to do with the dead bodies in Khartoum

Image source, Getty Images

South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) has expelled its former Secretary General Ace Magashule a week after a party disciplinary committee found him guilty of misconduct.

He was accused of having tried to suspend President Cyril Ramaphosa as party leader.

Mr Magashule was given seven days to respond but in a statement the ANC said he did not send any "representations to that effect".

At one point, Mr Magushule was widely seen as a political kingmaker in the ANC and was a staunch ally of former President Jacob Zuma, who Mr Ramaphosa replaced in 2018 following numerous corruption allegations - all of which Mr Zuma denies.

Two years ago, Mr Magashule was suspended by the party after he had been charged with corruption - charges that he denies. But Mr Magashule said that move was against the ANC's constitution and then said that President Ramaphosa was suspended - this is what led to the misconduct charge.

Mr Magashule has hinted that he may start his own political party.

BBC World Service

Militiamen from a group known as Codeco (Cooperative for Development of the Congo) have been blamed for an attack on a camp for the displaced in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo that's left more than 40 people dead.

Local officials said the group stormed Lala camp early on Monday; they shot and hacked residents before setting fire to huts.

Some of those inside were burned to death.

It's the latest attack by the group, which claims to defend the interests of Lendu farmers.

Tens of thousands of people have fled outlying villages in recent weeks to seek shelter in the town of Bule, where UN peacekeepers are stationed.

Thomas Naadi
BBC News, Accra

Image source, AFP

Ghana has regained its status as the leading producer of gold in Africa after a 32% surge in gold production last year.

The Ghana Chamber of Mines attributed the development to an increase in production in both small-scale and large-scale mining.

But the country is now facing an environmental crisis due to illegal gold mining.

Much of the country's forests, rivers and other bodies of water, have been damaged by illegal gold mining prompting serious health concerns in mining communities.

Popularly known as galamsey, small-scale mining has been the source of livelihood for a lot of unemployed youth in southern Ghana.

The government and experts have warned that Ghana could soon have to import drinking water if the current rate of destruction of the environment is not stopped.

The country’s cocoa sector is also under serious threat as farms are being destroyed for illegal mining.

The government had adopted a military approach, deploying soldiers to mining areas without much success.

In 2021, South Africa overtook Ghana as the top gold producer on the continent due to a sharp drop in production.

But the Ghana Chamber of Mines say the country’s gold output shot up to 3.7 million ounces (105 tonnes) last year, from 2.8 million ounces the previous year.

Egypt's Al Ahly are crowned African Champions League winners for a record-extending 11th time with victory over Morocco's Wydad.

Two Nigerian chefs are snapping at the heels of Hilda Baci to become world-record holders in cooking for the longest amount of time, reports say.

Last month, Baci caused a sensation in Nigeria after cooking non-stop for more than 100 hours, which exceeded the previous record. Guinness World Records is yet to verify the attempt.

Politicians and celebrities egged her on along with a boisterous crowd which watched her cook.

But Ekiti-based Adedamilola Adeparusi, known as Chef Dammy, is currently trying to out-do Baci and cook for 120 hours non-stop

Meanwhile, the Vanguard newspaper reports, external that Temitope Adebayo, a chef in Ibadan, has announced plans for a 140-hour cook-a-thon.

Organisers hope to make the event, which celebrates music, fashion and dancing, an annual event.