Jose Tembe
BBC News, Maputo

Troops from southern Africa's regional bloc who were deployed to tackle an Islamist insurgency in Mozambique are to leave the country due to financial contraints.

The Southern African Development Community (Sadc) has been considering its budget limitations, Mozambique's foreign minister said.

Verónica Macamo added that the bloc believes the Mozambique is relatively stable compared to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been wracked by armed groups for decades.

Sadc's military forces have been attempting to quell violence in DR Congo since December last year.

Mozambique's President Filipe Nyusi said Sadc plans to withdraw its forces "by July". However, Mr Nyusi said, this did not mean the nation's fight against jihadist groups would stop.

"Countries have also offered to work with us bilaterally, if justified," he wrote in a Facebook post.

"As Mozambicans we need to be ready for this reality. Let's not get distracted The greater responsibility is with us."

An armed insurgency has beset northern Mozambique for six years, with the Islamic State group saying it was behind some of the violence.

The insurgency, which has seen involved several attacks on the public and armed forces, prompted a military response in July 2021.

Support came first from Rwanda, who sent more than 2,000 military personnel to Mozambique, and then from the Sadc.

Mansur Abubakar
BBC News

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has called on family, friends and associates to celebrate him in a different way as he turns 72 on Friday.

In a statement released by his aide Bayo Onanuga, Mr Tinubu said Nigeria is going through challenging times and he does not want people organising celebratory events in his name.

“Because of the present mood of the nation there should be no form of birthday event and placing of birthday goodwill advertorial messages in newspapers.

"Goodwill messages should not be placed on radio and television stations too," the statement said.

The president asked friends and associates who wish to pay for goodwill advertorials to instead donate the money to charities.

Anne Soy & Nkechi Ogbonna
BBC News, Nairobi & Lagos

Cryptocurrency platform Binance has confirmed to the BBC that one of its executives who had been arrested by the authorities in Nigeria is no longer in custody, amid reports he escaped from the country.

Nadeem Anjarwalla, who holds both British and Kenyan passports, was arrested last month together with a colleague, Tigran Gambaryan, as part of a tax evasion probe against Binance.

A Binance spokesperson said on Monday: "We were made aware that Nadeem is no longer in Nigerian custody.

"Our primary focus remains on the safety of our employees and we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to quickly resolve this issue."

Earlier, we reported that the authorities have now formally filed tax evasion charges against the firm and named Mr Anjarwalla among the defendants.

Nigeria's authorities have been clamping down on cryptocurrency platforms over allegations they are being used for money laundering and financing terrorism.

Mr Anjarwalla, who is Binance’s Africa Regional Manager, and Mr Gambaryan, a US citizen in charge of financial crime compliance at the firm, were arrested shortly after their arrival in Nigeria on 26 February.

A court granted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) request to detain the two executives for 14 days, before extending the duration by another fortnight.

Mr Anjarwalla and Mr Gambaryan were due to appear again in court on 4 April. However, in the last 24 hours, reports of Mr Anjarwalla's apparent escape began to emerge.

Local media in Nigeria have reported that he asked the guards at a guest house he was being held in to allow him to attend a mosque last Friday, but he never returned.

It was reported that Nigerian authorities had confiscated his British passport but the whereabouts of his Kenyan passport was unknown.

Children were among the victims of the crush at the charity event that attracted a big crowd.

Amaechi Muonagor was a loved Nollywood legend, whose career spanned over two decades.

Shingai Nyoka & Richard Hamilton
BBC News, Harare and London

Image source, AFP

Malawi has declared a state of disaster over a severe drought that is affecting most of the country.

The announcement comes less than a month after neighbouring Zambia made a similar move.

Zimbabwe has also seen much of its crops destroyed.

Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera has requested more than $200m (£158.5m) in humanitarian aid.

The United Nations' World Food Programme has said several southern African nations are on the brink of a hunger crisis because of the impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon.

More stories on extreme weather in Africa:

• Freddy: The deadly cyclone that lasted more than a month
• Climate change, albinism and me
• How Seychelles ocean plants could help tackle climate change
• What are El Niño and La Niña, and how do they change the weather?

Earlier, we brought you reports from Nigeria, where journalists in Bauchi state said at least four women had been killed when a crowd rushed to get cash handouts from a businessman.

Police have now told the BBC that seven deaths have been confirmed, but Nigerian journalist Bauchi Hassan Mohammed, who has been covering the incident, said he believes the death toll could be as high as 17.

The police also said they have launched an investigation into the stampede.

Image source, Getty Images

Nigeria's tax agency is pursuing cryptocurrency company Binance for tax evasion, local reports say.

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) on Monday reportedly filed tax evasion charges against the company at the high court in the capital, Abuja.

The charges include failure to pay taxes, failure to file tax returns, and aiding users of its platform to evade taxes.

Binance is also accused of operating in the West African country without registration.

The crypto platform told Reuters news agency that it was working with Nigerian authorities to resolve the issue.

The lawsuit names two Binance executives currently detained in Nigeria - Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla - as defendants.

They have been in detention since late February, when they arrived in the country to discuss the suspension of the trading platform with Nigerian authorities.

On Monday, online newspaper Premium Times reported that Mr Anjarwalla allegedly escaped custody and fled the country last Friday, external. Authorities have not confirmed this report.

Earlier this month, the Nigerian government demanded almost $10bn (£8bn) from the cryptocurrency firm as compensation for its alleged manipulation of exchange rates of the local naira currency.

At least three people are feared dead following floods caused by heavy rains that pounded Kenya' capital, Nairobi, for hours.

Among those killed was a police officer who was rescuing trapped families in the Kamukunji area, local media reported.

Authorities are yet to confirm the deaths.

Videos and photos that went viral on social media showed motorists stranded in their cars as the floodwaters submerged various roads.

Parts of the Nairobi Expressway, which links the country's main airport to the capital, were also flooded. Videos posted online by motorists showed cars being redirected by the toll road officers.

Weather experts have said the rains would continue over the next few days.

The Kenya Red Cross has advised motorists and pedestrians to evacuate roads immediately if they sense impending danger.

Image source, Algerian Red Crescent

Algeria is sending 150 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, amid warnings of an imminent famine there.

The items include food supplies and baby formula.

"This aid reflects Algeria’s commitment to unconditional and unlimited solidarity with the Palestinian people," the defence ministry said on Sunday.

Military aircraft will transport the aid on Monday from the Boufarik military airport near the capital Algiers to Egypt’s El-Arish Airport, which is located close to the Gaza Strip.

According to the UN, an estimated half of Gaza's population is starving, following months of conflict with Israel.

The agency projects that famine could be experienced in northern Gaza between March and May and that the entire population of Gaza will be in famine by July.

Image source, Getty Images

At least four women were killed in Nigeria in a stampede as a crowd rushed to get cash handouts from a businessman, police say.

A 17-year-old girl was also injured in the incident, which happened in the north-eastern Bauchi state on Sunday.

Some reports put the death toll much higher.

The businessman was issuing 5,000 naira ($3; £2.74) to each person in an effort to help them buy food during the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the AFP news agency reported.

For months, Nigerians have been grappling with severe economic challenges, including soaring food prices.

Two students from Nasarawa State University near the capital city, Abuja, died on Friday during a separate stampede for free rice.

And at least seven deaths were reported in commercial hub Lagos last month after a struggle for cheap rice sold by the Nigeria Customs Service, a government body.

Police have warned against holding such events without proper crowd control mechanisms from the authorities.

Image source, AFP

A section of Kenya's main airport has been closed temporarily following a minor fire.

An electrical fault caused the "small fire" at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport's Terminal 1E on Monday morning, the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) said in a statement, external.

“The situation was quickly contained, with no injuries or casualties resulting from the incident," the KAA said.

Power to the terminal has been temporarily shut off as a precautionary measure and all flight arrivals redirected to Terminal 1A, the statement added.

The incident caused panic as passengers and staff were evacuated from the affected area.

Image source, Reuters

The Constitutional Council in Chad has approved 10 candidates for the upcoming presidential election, including the country's interim President General Mahamat Idriss Deby.

The poll is scheduled for 6 May.

Mr Deby initially promised an 18-month transition to democratic rule, after he seized power in 2021, following the death of his father.

But he later postponed the elections until this year, triggering protests that were violently suppressed by security forces.

The candidate list also includes Succès Masra, the opposition leader who was appointed prime minister of the transitional government in January.

Ten other candidates have been barred from contesting due to "irregularities" in their applications.

They include Nassour Ibrahim Neguy Koursami and Rakhis Ahmat Saleh, both outspoken critics of the government.

Chad's military government is one of several juntas currently ruling in West and Central Africa.

Nollywood comedy legend Amaechi Muonagor has died aged 62, a relative told the BBC.

He died on Sunday after suffering kidney failure and was on dialysis, local media reported.

The actor's cousin Tony Muonagor, also known as Tony Oneweek, confirmed his death to BBC News Pidgin.

His death comes just a few days after he appealed for help to raise funds for a kidney transplant in India.

Many of his fans have taken to social media to mourn him.

During his career, Muonagor appeared in dozens of films, including Aki and Paw Paw, one of his most famous roles where he played the father of two mischief-making, over-exuberant teenagers.

He was nominated for the 2017 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards for Best Actor.

His death comes just a few weeks after Nigeria lost another Nollywood star, John Okafor. Better known as Mr Ibu, Okafor had also publically appealed for medical help.

Our African proverb of the day:

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A handwritten map is all Mamadou Barry had to guide him from Guinea to Egypt.

At the age of 24 he had reached a crossroads in his life. Having failed his final year secondary school exams five times in a row, he set his sights on a different type of education. Mamadou had heard about the prestigious Al Azhar University in Egypt, but could not afford a plane ticket. So he decided to set off on an epic adventure, travelling by bike, and leaving his home in Guinea with only $55, a small bag of clothes and tools, and a map he had drawn himself.

Presenter: Mobeen Azhar Producer: Rob Wilson Translator and interpreter: Olivier Weber Voiceover artist: Gaïus Kowene

Archive was from the official YouTube channel for Will Smith

Evidence suggests voice cloning tools were used to impersonate the ex-president of Sudan on TikTok.

On 14 August 2013, Egypt's army killed hundreds of protestors in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya Square.

They were protesting against a military coup that had taken place a month earlier, in which the democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, was ousted.

Sameh Elbarky was in the square that day. He speaks to Ben Henderson.

(Photo: A poster of Egypt's ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, among debris in Rabaa Square. Credit: NurPhoto/Corbis via Getty Images)

A Kenyan man has told the BBC how his AI-related job has affected his personal life.

It’s been 50 years since a popular Nigerian fast food chain which later became known as Mr Bigg's was first launched.

The restaurants began as coffee shops in department stores in the 1960s and were later rebranded in 1986.

Mr Bigg's currently has more than 170 locations in 40 cities around Nigeria, and there were also restaurants in other African nations at one time.

Justice Baidoo spoke to Emmanuel Osugo, one of the pioneers of the chain.

A Made in Manchester production for BBC World Service.

(Photo: A Mr Bigg's restaurant. Credit: Adebola Familusi)