Image source, AFP

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) plans to distribute seized food items in stores around the country to tackle the current challenges of food security amid protests in at least five states.

The customs service said, external unspecified tonnes of rice, groundnut oil, noodles and other commodities will be certified as fit for consumption by relevant agencies before being made available to ordinary Nigerians.

Abdullahi Maiwada, a spokesperson for the NCS, promised an equitable and transparent process to ensure the food reaches those most in need.

The service said it had also launched an anti-smuggling operation and public engagement "to prevent the unlawful exportation of vital food resources".

This move comes as protests have erupted across Nigeria because of the high rate of inflation, driven largely by high food prices and the government's decision to end a long-running fuel subsidy.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has warned that Nigeria could experience social unrest due to the high cost of living.

Read more: Nigeria cost of living: People turn to 'throw-away' rice for food

Beijing suggests blocking calls for an immediate ceasefire gives a “green light to continued slaughter".

Ndeye likes pink and unicorns, whereas Marieme likes red and cats, which can cause clothing issues.

A court in South Africa has dismissed a bid by the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, to declare the governing African National Congress' (ANC) controversial policy to deploy its cadres to key state institutions as unconstitutional.

The DA argued that the policy undermined the independence of state institutions, and fuelled corruption.

But the High Court in Pretoria ruled against the party.

The ANC has long argued that the policy is aimed at bringing about racial transformation in South Africa following the end of apartheid in 1994.

The DA said it would appeal against the ruling.

The court battle came as political parties gear up for national and provincial elections set for 29 May.

A university fashion department is aiming to help disabled people feel good in their clothes.

The president of Cuba's National Assembly, Esteban Lazo Hernández, has travelled to Kenya to seek clarification over recent unconfirmed reports which suggested that two Cuban doctors who were kidnapped in Kenya in 2019 had been killed.

The doctors, Assel Herrera Correa and Landy Rodríguez Hernández, were kidnapped by al-Shabaab militants as they travelled to work.

Last weekend, al-Shabaab said that the doctors had been killed last Thursday during a US drone strike targeted at a house in the southern Somali town of Jilib.

A US defence official was quoted by CNN, external as saying that there was no credible evidence that the strike caused any civilian casualties, but added that the US was investigating al-Shabaab's claim of the doctors' deaths.

Cuba's foreign affairs ministry says it has also reached out to the US and Somali governments, external for more details on the military operation in question and the status of the doctors.

After the 2019 kidnapping, al-Shabaab gunmen then killed an armed policeman who was guarding the doctors.

The militant group then took the doctors to neighbouring Somalia, later demanding a $1.5m (£1.1m) ransom for the release of the doctors.

Armand Mouko
BBC Afrique

Image source, AFP

Senegal’s Justice Minister Aissata Tall Sall has announced the release of nearly 400 protesters from prison.

They were arrested and imprisoned during the political demonstrations of March 2021 and June 2023.

Ms Sall did not indicate whether opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and presidential candidate Bachirou Diomaye Faye would be released.

"The only thing I can say is that this is not a mass release; these are cases that are studied on a case-by-case basis according to the elements in the files," she added.

The minister said the release of the political prisoners was aimed at easing tensions in the country.

Political demonstrations in Senegal have often resulted in arrests and deaths.

Most recently, three people died during protests over the cancellation of the country’s 25 February elections.

The justice minister said investigations were ongoing to determine those responsible.

The stench from a vessel loaded with cattle which engulfed Cape Town has drawn attention to a wider issue.

Image source, Getty Images

Nigerian Afrobeats star Davido on Tuesday announced that he will donate 300m Naira ($197,000; £156,000) to orphanages in his country.

"I and my foundation pledge the sum of 300 million Naira to orphanages around Nigeria...as my yearly contribution to the nation..details of disbursement tomorrow," Davido shared on a post on X, formerly Twitter,, external on Tuesday.

Davido, real name David Adedeji Adeleke, has in recent years endeared himself to his fans for philanthropic efforts.

In 2021, he ended up collecting 200m naira from his friends and fans after he shared a series of posts on X, then Twitter, asking people to send him money so he could clear his Rolls Royce from the port.

Davido then topped up 50m naira of his own, and donated the total 250m naira to various orphanages in Nigeria.

He went on to create the David Adeleke Foundation the following year.

Since then, Davido and his foundation have donated money to orphanages in Nigeria annually.

Several Nigerians online have commended about the pledge, saying it is timely and could help the recipient orphanages to cope with the aggravating cost-of-living crisis.

Image source, AFP

The UN has imposed an arms embargo, travel ban and asset freeze against six rebel leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo amid violence in the country's east.

Those sanctioned include the military spokesman of the M23 rebel group, a general in the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and two senior leaders in the Ugandan armed group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

The others are the leader of the National Coalition of the People for the Sovereignty of Congo (CNPSC), a Mai-Mai group, and a commander in the armed group Twirwaneho.

The announcement followed a UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, aimed at discussing the dire security situation in DR Congo.

“We are pleased that as of today, six additional armed group leaders will be designated by the UN DR Congo Sanctions Committee,” Robert Wood, US Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs in the UN said.

"These individuals are responsible for numerous abuses," he said

The M23 and the FDLR have been at the centre of tensions between the Congolese and Rwandan governments.

DR Congo accuses Rwanda of supporting the Tutsi-led M23 group while the Rwandan government blames its neighbour for collaborating with the Hutu-dominated FDLR rebels whom it says have links to the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

During Tuesday’s Security Council briefing, members took turns to condemn the M23’s recent advance towards the town of Sake, which has led to the forced displacement of thousands of people.

Image source, Getty Images

Four police officers have been arrested in Kenya after detectives raided a house where 37 Ethiopians were being held, about 16km (nine miles) from the capital, Nairobi.

The officers are suspected of aiding a human smuggling and trafficking operation.

The Ethiopians told Kenyan authorities that they were en route to South Africa in search of better lives, privately owned The Star newspaper reported.

A search is under way for the owner of the house and other members of the smuggling ring.

Kenya is a common transit route for Ethiopian migrants attempting to illegally enter South Africa, according to the UN migration agency IOM.

The agency says that the migrants, who are mostly men from Ethiopia's Oromia and SNNP regions, enter Kenya through the Moyale border point, before proceeding to Tanzania and eventually South Africa.

Image source, AFP

The Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde has resigned, he announced in a video shared on the presidency's social media platforms, external late on Tuesday.

President Felix Tshisekedi accepted Mr Lukonde's resignation, the Reuters news agency reported, citing a statement from the president's office.

The statement added that President Tshisekedi had asked Mr Lukonde's government to continue with its duties until a new government is established.

In the DR Congo, the government is headed by the prime minister.

Mr Lukonde will now take up legislative duties, after he was voted to parliament in DR Congo's general elections last December.

Mr Lukonde had been appointed prime minister in 2021, succeeding ex-PM Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba, who resigned after legislators passed a vote of no confidence against him and his government.

Image source, Getty Images

South Africa will hold national and provincial elections on 29 May, coinciding with the celebration of its 30 years of freedom and democracy, the presidency has said.

It said President Cyril Ramaphosa had consulted with the electoral commission regarding the date.

The president has further convened a meeting with all provincial premiers and the commission to discuss the state of readiness of the elections.

Voters will be electing a new national assembly as well as the provincial legislature in each of the country's nine provinces.

Parties are allocated seats in the 400-seat parliament based on the percentage of votes they receive in the election and MPs then elect the president.

Mr Ramaphosa is seeking a second term as president.

His African National Congress party faces tough competition in the elections, with opinion polls suggesting the party could lose its outright majority to fall below 50%, for the first time in South Africa's 30 years of democracy.

South Africa held its first universal democratic elections in 1994 following the end of the racially oppressive apartheid system, with Nelson Mandela elected as the president.

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South African authorities say conditions on board the livestock vessel from Brazil are "abhorrent".

About 400 people are thought to have starved to death in six months in Tigray and Amhara regions.

Scenes of jubilation broke out after the woman gave birth to a "bouncing" baby boy, medics say.

Millions have been forced to flee the conflict between M23 rebels and DR Congo government forces.

Giulio Regeni's mutilated body was found left in a ditch on the outskirts of Cairo in 2016.

The 13-year-old allegedly shot his principal in an incident that has shocked many South Africans.