Shingai Nyoka
BBC News, Harare

Image source, Getty Images

South Africa, Russia and China have congratulated Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa following his controversial election win over the weekend.

Meanwhile, the US added its voice to growing criticism of last week's general election which the opposition described as a "fraud".

The US government said there was systemic bias against the opposition and highlighted credible reports that monitors were forced to alter some election result forms. The electoral commission rejected these claims.

A statement from South Africa's presidency , externalsaid South Africa was conscious that the elections took place under a difficult economic environment because of sanctions against Zimbabwe.

It also acknowledged concerns from independent election observers about the legitimacy of the result.

Some monitors said the poll fell short of international standards and the requirements of Zimbabwe's own constitution.

South Africa, Russia and China are key trade partners of Zimbabwe, and their backing of the poll is significant as Zimbabwe is facing the prospect of further Western isolation and sanctions after criticism of the poll.

The opposition Citizens Coalition for Change is still tallying its own results before deciding on a concrete plan of what to do next. But the congratulatory messages to President Mnangagwa are perhaps a reflection that Zimbabwe's main allies are ready to move on and accept the results.

Will Ross
Africa editor, BBC World Service

Image source, Getty Images

Fighters from the Islamist militant group al-Shabab have retaken at least two locations that had just been captured by Somalia's army during a new offensive.

There are reports of both sides suffering significant losses during a fierce battle for control of Cowsweyne.

Sources at a military hospital said at least 50 wounded soldiers were brought in for treatment.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has pledged to defeat al-Shabab within months.

On Friday the army and clan militias celebrated the capture of an al-Shabab stronghold, El Bur.

However the re-capture of a nearby village Wabho shows that the military is vulnerable to counter-attacks in areas where the jihadists have long been entrenched.

Mike Thomson
BBC World Service News

Image source, Getty Images

Six Zambians and five Egyptians have appeared in court after a mystery plane landed in Lusaka with more than100kg of counterfeit gold, nearly $6m (£4.8m) and weapons on board.

A senior Zambian police officer is among those arrested.

He has been charged with espionage.

Court papers are also reported to list a former Egyptian military officer and businessman.

The Egyptian authorities have claimed that the aircraft is privately owned, and only transited through Cairo.

The suspects face up to 30 years in jail if convicted.

Read more on this story:

• Zambia-Egypt plane seizure: The cash and fake gold that no-one is claiming

A 20-year-old Ugandan man could face the death penalty after he was charged with aggravated homosexuality, which is a capital offence under a controversial law that was passed in May.

It is the first time that such a charge has been reported, though it is not clear if there have been any previous prosecutions.

A court in eastern Uganda charged the man on 18 August, following allegations that he engaged in sexual relations with a 41-year-old man. But it was not clear why it was considered that this fell under the category of "aggravated homosexuality", the Reuters news agency reports.

According to the law, the "aggravated" category includes having gay sex with someone below the age of 18 or where someone is infected with a life-long illness including HIV.

Justine Balya, the defendant's lawyer, told Reuters that Uganda has charged four other people under he anti-homosexuality law but her client is the first to be prosecuted under this punitive category.

On 22 August, a Ugandan court charged a former gay rights activist and another man with homosexuality, according to Uganda’s Daily Monitor newspaper., external

Last week, another Ugandan court charged a 26-year-old woman, external with human trafficking and three counts of homosexuality.

Earlier this month, the World Bank said it was halting new loans to Uganda because the anti-homosexuality law contradicts its core values.

Read more on this story:

• Gay Ugandan asks 'Where will I go?' as secret shelters under threat

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

Salif Keïta has been appointed by the junta head as his special adviser on cultural affairs.

That's all from the BBC Africa Live team for now. We're back on Tuesday morning.

There will be an automated news feed until then, plus you can get the latest updates on the BBC News website or listen to the Focus on Africa podcast.

A reminder of Monday's wise words:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave you with this shot of Napoli and Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen blowing gum on Sunday:

Image source, AFP

BBC Africa Daily podcast

Image source, Yusuf Ageeb

Missing family, struggling to afford rent and finding belonging among strangers - these are the plights of those displaced by the ongoing conflict in Sudan.

More than four months since the nation's armed forces and a powerful paramiltiary group turned their guns on each other, the BBC's Africa Daily podcast heard from two men who left the capital city of Khartoum, where much of the fighting is concentrated.

They're among the four million people estimated by the UN to have been displaced by war.

Yusuf, who had lived in Khartoum all his life, left for neighbouring country South Sudan as the international school he taught at closed for security reasons.

He sold his car in order to move his mother, aunt, and younger brother into a house in a safer area of Sudan. He then crossed the border in order to find work that would allow him to continue supporting his family.

"In my current state, I'm not able to bring my family here. First of all I have to find a job, second I have to find a house at this very moment... It's very hard for me," he said.

Despite these woes, Yusuf has been able to build several new connections.

"South Sudanese are very friendly people. They’re so welcoming - whenever you meet a South Sudanese, they tell you welcome to your second country," he said.

BBC Africa Daily also spoke to software developer Usamah, who moved around 820km (510 miles) from Khartoum to Port Sudan.

"It is pretty much safe [here]… as long as that is this case, I'm choosing to live inside the country rather than leave," he said.

Similary to Yusuf, finding a new job and funding necessities is a huge concern for him.

However, he says he feels at home in Port Sudan.

"I'm not a stranger here - one of thing about this war is that it strengthened my identity. I came here and I'm just like everybody here," he said.

Listen to the Africa Daily podcast episode here.

More on Sudan:

• 'I saw bodies dumped in Darfur mass grave'
• Sudan conflict: Women tell BBC horror stories of rape

Image source, AFP

Dozens of young Kenyans have been protesting in the city of Eldoret, after they said they had paid huge sums of money to an agency that promised but failed to give them jobs abroad.

They're demanding their money back from First Choice Recruitment and Consultancy Agency, to whom some of them had reportedly paid as much as $2,800 (£2,200) for a shot at jobs in the Middle East, Europe and Canada.

Local media report that Judy Chepchirchir, the owner of the agency, has dismissed several summons by the Labour and Social Welfare committee of the Kenyan senate and the leadership of the county government.

Several outlets have also reported that the police have launched investigations into Ms Chepchirchir and her agency.

Mystery surrounds a plane from Egypt loaded with money, fake gold and guns that was seized in Zambia.

Celestine Karoney
BBC Sport Africa

Kenya was the best African team at this year's World Athletics Championships in Hungary, winning 10 medals and finishing fifth overall.

The country edged out rivals and neighbours Ethiopia by one gold, but Kenya's gold medal harvest was also historic because for the first time at the global competition none of its male athletes won the top prize.

Faith Kipyegon became the first woman to win gold in both the 1500m and 5000m while Mary Moraa won the women’s 800m for Kenya’s third gold on the last day. Moraa celebrated with her customary jig at the finish line that earned her the name "Kenya's dancing queen".

Uganda were thrilled with two golds, but Ethiopia will feel they could have done better after winning only two gold medals - that's half the number they won at last year's Championships where they were the second overall behind hosts USA.

Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo lived up to expectations as the continent’s rising sprint star winning silver in the men’s 100m before ending the competition with bronze in the 200m. The 20-year-old said quitting social media was key to his success in becoming the first African man to win a medal in the 100m at the Championships.

Burkina Faso's gold in the triple-jump is probably the continent's most storied result from the Championships. Hugues Fabrice Zango won his country’s first gold in the history of the Championships and the first title for any African nation in the discipline.

Zango has now completed a set of medals in the triple jump - gold, silver and bronze - in the last three World Championships.

The 30-year-old, who is also a PhD candidate in electrical engineering, said afterwards he hoped his gold medal could bring some "positive emotions" to his compatriots as the country faces political instability.

France's president praises the diplomat for staying put despite being told to go by Niger's junta.

BBC Great Lakes

Image source, Getty Images

Rwanda and Germany’s top football club, FC Bayern Munich, have signed a deal to boost local football and tourism, but critics have dismissed it as an attempt to "sportswash" the East African nation's poor human rights record.

The "Visit Rwanda" logo will be displayed at the German team's 75,000-seater stadium on match days, as part of the five year-deal made for an undisclosed fee.

And in Rwanda, up to 30 talented children will benefit from a new FC Bayern youth academy, the government says.

This deal is also a chance for Germany's top team to "become active on the African continent and gather important experiences", says its chief executive, Jan-Christian Dreesen.

Kigali has similar sponsorship deals with Arsenal and Paris St-Germain, yet Rwandan football teams have so far struggled at regional and continental level.

Critics say such deals are a waste of important resources on rich European clubs while many Rwandans live in poverty.

Five children have died in a fire in an informal settlement in South Africa's capital Pretoria, local media report.

According to local reports the mothers of the children - three boys and two girls aged between one and seven - had been left alone at home overnight.

The children's bodies were discovered by firefighters who put out the blaze, and the mothers have been arrested and taken to the local police station for questioning.

The cause of the fire is not yet known and investigations are ongoing.

"We call upon parents and caregivers to ensure that children are always left under the care of an adult and in a safe environment," the City of Tshwane's emergency services department spokesperson Charles Mabaso is quoted as saying.

Image source, AFP

Close to 60,000 Kenyans who've applied for passports since March have been left in limbo after printing equipment broke down - and the government has now announced that it will borrow machines from private investors to clear clear the backlog.

The problem isn't just that Kenya's current passport printing machines are outdated, says Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Interior and National Administration Kithure Kindiki. There are also corrupt agents who extort bribes from applicants.

He told parliament last week that he would carry out a clean-up of Kenya’s immigration agency, and on Monday it was announced the daily passport printing rate would rise to 5,000.

In recent months, government inefficiencies have led to delays issuing identity cards, drivers' licences, birth certificates and police clearance certificates, sparking widespread frustration and discontent among Kenyans.

Image source, Reuters

The head of Sudan's army and the country's de facto president has responded to a statement by his rival in the country's conflict that he is open to a long-term ceasefire, saying that "we don't strike deals with traitors".

Earlier, the leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who's known as Hemedti, said any settlement must set the country on the path to full civilian rule.

He also called for an end to state-orchestrated attacks on civilians.

But army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said:

Sudanese pro-democracy activists have dismissed Hemedti's earlier comments as highly hypocritical, seeing as he has played a key role in organising attacks on civilians and ensuring the military retains power in Sudan.

The conflict between the RSF and the army began on 15 April after the two leaders fell out over the future of the country and the transition to civilian rule.

Thousands have lost their lives and more than four million people have fled their homes.

Nduka Orjinmo
BBC News, Abuja

Image source, Nigerian Air Force/Twitter

The Nigerian air force says it carried out strikes on illegal oil refining sites in the Niger Delta region on Sunday.

The force said it had destroyed several illegal sites in oil-rich Rivers state, external and also targeted a boat that was loaded with crude oil and headed for the open waters.

Nigeria has been cracking down on oil thieves in the Niger Delta, burning crude-laden ships and small illegal refineries, but aerial bombardments are uncommon.

Most of the illegal oil refineries tend to be located in the creeks away from communities but environmentalists have condemned the continual burning of the refineries.

Illegal crude vessels that have been seized in the past by a private security contractor have also been burned by authorities, with the crude intact.

Sunday's attacks coincided with a visit of defence and oils chiefs to Rivers state, where Nigeria’s National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu said the country was losing 400,000 barrels of crude daily to thieves.

Read more on the theft of oil in Nigeria:

• Nigeria's stolen oil, the military and a man named Government
• Nigeria's illegal oil refineries: Dirty, dangerous, lucrative

Paul Njie
BBC News

Image source, Civil Rights Defenders

The Network of Human Rights Defenders in Central Africa (Redhac) says the internet shutdown and curfew imposed by the authorities in Gabon raise serious concerns about the transparency of Saturday's general election.

The rights group's head, Maximilienne Ngo Mbe, said the security restrictions suggested that "the elections are being rigged" and she fears there's a plot to sow further "chaos".

She added:

Gabon's electoral body is compiling the results from Saturday's presidential, legislative and local elections, and it's not yet clear when the outcome will be announced.

The polls were marred by delays and complaints of fraud by the opposition. Foreign observers and journalists were banned from monitoring the vote.

The main opposition candidate Albert Ondo Ossa demanded that he be declared winner of the presidential election, saying it was time for Ali Bongo who has been in power for 14 years, to go.

Image source, Getty Images

An elephant conservationist and researcher who's walking across four African nations to raise awareness of the plight of the giant mammals has begun the Ugandan leg of his trip.

Jim Justus Nyamu, who is Kenyan, began the whole journey in Nairobi on 29 July and arrived in Uganda last Friday, having covered more than 441km (274 miles).

He and his entourage will next walk to Rwanda and finally the Democratic Republic of Congo before returning to Kenya - in a journey expected to span 130 days and more than 3,600km (2,200 miles).

"My East and Central Africa campaign walk is guided by the mission of saving the African elephants whose survival has been greatly threatened," Mr Nyamu wrote on Facebook on Sunday.

He is is the founder of Elephant Neighbours Centre, an organisation that works with local communities to resolve human-wildlife conflict. During his walking tour he's stopping regularly to talk to local communities about why this matters.

Previously, Mr Nyamu walked for more than 18,000km (11,000 miles) across three continents as part of his Ivory Belongs to Elephants campaign, according to Uganda’s New Vision newspaper, external.

Abdi Dahir
BBC Monitoring, Nairobi

Members of Somalia’s National Consultative Council have agreed to continue with a major military offensive against the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabab militant group which began in August last year.

The council, which brings together the leaders of the federal government and regional states, met in the central town of Dhusamareb on Sunday to discuss the fight against the group.

In a statement published on X, external (formerly Twitter), the presidency said the leaders agreed to co-ordinate the offensive and “align it with the national counter-terrorism strategy” to end the group's long-running insurgency.

The leaders said they would form “a joint command structure” to manage military operations against militants.

The meeting came hours after the army seized a major al-Shabab stronghold in the central Galgudud region, in what the local media described as a significant blow to the group.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has vowed to defeat the group before the end of 2023.