Africa

Theo Leggett International business correspondent BBC Listen to Theo read this article “What you have there is about £250,000 worth of gold,” Emma Siebenborn says as she shows me a faded plastic tub filled with old, shabby jewellery – rings, charm bracelets, necklaces and orphaned earrings. Emma is the strategies …

Group A: Kenya (co-hosts}, Morocco, Angola, DR Congo, Zambia Group B: Tanzania (co-hosts), Madagascar, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic Group C: Uganda (co-hosts), Niger, Guinea, Algeria, South Africa Group D: Senegal, Equatorial Guinea*, Sudan, Nigeria *Equatorial Guinea replaced Congo-Brazzaville after the latter fielded an ineligible player in qualifying BBC …

At least 130 civilians were killed by Burkina Faso government forces and allied militia in March near the western town of Solenzo, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says in a new report. It says the “massacre”, following an operation led by Burkinabè special forces, resulted in widespread civilian deaths and displacement …

Wedaeli Chibelushi & Paul Njie BBC News, London & Yaoundé PMC/Getty Images Koyo Kouoh has been described as “magnificently intelligent, endlessly energetic and formidably elegant” Koyo Kouoh, one of the art world’s leading figures and a fierce advocate of African creatives, has died aged 57. A Cameroon-born curator, Kouoh had …

Anne Okumu & Brian Khisa BBC News, Gaborone Lesego Chombo/Instagram Lesego Chombo’s enthusiasm for life is as infectious as her achievements are impressive: she has won the Miss Botswana 2022 and Miss World Africa 2024 crowns, is a working lawyer, has set up her own charitable foundation – and made …

Wedaeli Chibelushi BBC News BBC Studios/Bad Wolf/James Pardon The episode preview shows the Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, navigating a Lagos marketplace “Whatever I was doing – maybe cleaning up or doing homework – when I heard the ‘oooh-oooh-oooooh’,” Adesoji Kukoyi says, mimicking the iconic Doctor Who theme tune, “I …

Mohamed Osman & Priya Sippy BBC News Arabic & BBC News, Port Sudan & London AFP / Getty Images Black smoke has dominated the skyline in Port Sudan in the wake of the attacks A massive increase in the price of water is just one consequence of a week of …

Former British Army officer and mercenary Simon Mann, who was part of a coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea in 2004, has died of a heart attack while exercising, friends confirmed. The 72-year-old made millions of pounds from protecting businesses in conflict zones before he took part in the failed attempt …

The head of Liberia’s doctors’ association has been banned from practising medicine after a regulatory body said it did not have evidence of his initial medical degree. As part of a qualifications audit, the Liberia Medical and Dental Council (LMDC) asked Peter Matthew George to provide his professional certificates. In …

A selection of the week’s best photos from across the African continent and beyond. BBC News

Despite reports that he joined as one of the best-paid international coaches in Africa, Cisse insists he is not a hired gun, but someone who can lay the foundations for success. In Senegal, he spent a decade shaping a generation that would go on to secure the country’s first senior …

A major conservation charity linked to Prince Harry has admitted that human rights abuses were committed by its rangers in Congo-Brazzaville, following an independent review into allegations made by members of the Baka community against African Parks rangers. In a report published last year by the British newspaper the Mail …

Football has long been the dominant sport in West Africa, with a well-established pipeline of talent feeding the world’s top clubs, but one nation is hoping to help road cycling become the region’s second sport. While cycling programmes exist in Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast, the country where an evolution …

The bodies of a journalist and his partner have been found in South Africa in an advanced stage of decomposition, more than two months after they went missing, local media groups have said. Police said they had found human remains, but DNA tests still needed to be conducted to confirm …

The US has announced that it is cutting $50m (£37m) in aid to Zambia’s health sector, due to the country’s failure to address the “systematic theft” of donated drugs and medical supplies. This “difficult” decision was taken after repeated warnings to the Zambian government to safeguard vital drugs meant for …

Paul Melly West Africa analyst Reuters Even a stellar international business career cannot prepare you for the hard realities of politics in Ivory Coast, where some are questioning the democratic credentials of the West African nation most famous for being the producer of much of the world’s cocoa and some …

South African firebrand opposition politician Julius Malema says he has been denied a visa to attend a conference in the UK on 10 May. Malema said the UK had no “substantial justification” for its decision, and he saw it as an “attempt to silence a dissenting political perspective”. In a …

After securing Olympic relay and World Indoor medals, South African sprint star Akani Simbine says he has “never given up on trying to be the best”. BBC News

A Kenyan court has sentenced four men to one year in prison or pay a fine of $7,700 (£5,800) for trying to smuggle thousands of live ants out of the country. The four suspects – two Belgians, a Vietnamese and a Kenyan – were arrested last month with 5,000 ants …

As the sun set over Lake Turkana, a mother sobbed and threw flowers into the greenish-blue water to remember her teenage daughter who had drowned trying to reach Kenya via a new route being used by people smugglers. Senait Mebrehtu, a Pentecostal Christian Eritrean who had sought asylum in Kenya …