Got a TV Licence?

You need one to watch live TV on any channel or device, and BBC programmes on iPlayer. It’s the law.

Find out more
I don’t have a TV Licence.

Live Reporting

Hugo Williams and Damian Zane

All times stated are UK

Get involved

  1. Scroll down for Friday's stories

    We'll be back on Tuesday

    That's all from BBC Africa Live for this week. Keep up-to-date with what's happening across the continent by listening to the Africa Today podcast or checking the BBC News website.

    Today’s African proverb:

    Quote Message: Knowledge without wisdom is like water in the sand." from Martin Manyiel Wugol, Juba, South Sudan
    Martin Manyiel Wugol, Juba, South Sudan

    And we leave you with this photo of an entertainer during celebrations in In Togo's capital, Lome, on Wednesday to mark 56 years of independence from France.

    Man in yellow trousers with facepaint, a curly green wig and

    To see the rest of Africa's week in pictures, click here

  2. Fuel tanks lined up in Lagos

    One of our readers has sent us this picture of fuel tanks lined up at a filling station in Nigeria's main city of Lagos.

    Line of petrol tanks waiting at at a filling station

    Ajewoles Sola John told us that the fuel scarcity is lessening but petrol stations are refusing to fill up jerry cans.  

    Instead, people have to bring the fuel tanks from their generators.

    He says that a litre can cost anything between $0.45 and $070.

    Please send your pictures and stories to our Whatsapp number +44 7341 070 844.

  3. Burundi postpones political dialogue

    Long-delayed peace talks aimed at ending violent political unrest in Burundi have been delayed again, East African regional mediators have said in a statement.

    It follows further violence on Thursday, when five people were killed in a gun and grenade attack in an opposition stronghold in the capital, Bujumbura.

    More than 400 people have been killed and a quarter of a million people have fled Burundi since President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial decision a year ago to run for a third term. 

    The BBC's Prime Ndikumagenge has sent us a copy of the statement confirming the news: 

    Copy of the statement
  4. Presidents try to beat ivory trade

    Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has urged an end to Africa's illegal ivory trade, saying it means death for elephants and death for tourism. 

    He spoke at the beginning of a summit aimed at curbing the trade.

    Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba is also at the meeting.

    The BBC's Anne Soy asked him what he's doing to tackle the trade.

    Video content

    Video caption: Gabon deals with elephant poaching
  5. Facebook leases satellites for wifi across Africa

    Facebook's Free Basics already offers free access to a few websites

    Facebook has started to lease three satellites to provide more w-ifi internet in sub-Saharan Africa, reports Quartz.

    The business news site points out that this is slightly different from Facebook's Free Basics which offers free access to a limited number of websites.  

    That proved controversial and India's telecoms regulator blocked Facebook's Free Basics, ruling that data providers should not favour some online services over others.

    It is still available in 37 African countries.

    Facebook is experimenting with high-altitude long-endurance planes, satellites and lasers to increase access to the internet. 

  6. The ballet dance troupe started in a Nigerian garage

    Lerato Mbele

    BBC African Business Report

    Off the bustling streets of the Nigerian city Lagos I encountered something totally unexpected - ballet dancers.

    A community centre squashed somewhere between a street market selling clothes, a Catholic church and a primary school houses the dancers.

    In a derelict building, off the main thoroughfare of the Marina district on Lagos Island is a three-storey block that now houses the Society of Performing Arts Nigeria (Span).

    It's a space Sarah Boulos found affordable a few years ago, when she created Span.

    Lebanese-Nigerian Mrs Boulos was born in Burkina Faso but moved to Nigeria when her family relocated to expand their business.

    Read the full story and watch the video below: 

    View more on twitter
  7. Four die after wall collapses during heavy rain in Nairobi

    Emmanuel Igunza

    BBC Africa, Nairobi

    Four people have been killed in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, after a perimeter wall collapsed following heavy rains that are pounding parts of the country. 

    Several other people were also injured during the incident. 

    Thousands of commuters have been stranded for hours since yesterday after major roads in and out of the capital were flooded. 

    Video content

    Video caption: Heavy rain in Kenya causing traffic problems

    Visibility has been very poor on Nairobi's roads.

  8. Is African sport in crisis? BBC Africa Debate

    For this month's BBC World Service Africa Debate, which comes from the Kenyan capital Nairobi, our panel of guests has been considering: Is there a failure of leadership in African sport?

    With a bit more, here's one of the presenters Farayi Muganzi, explaining why it's such a big issue: 

    View more on twitter

    You can listen to the full debate on the BBC World Service at 19:00 GMT. 

    Here's a taster of the discussion, featuring Mwangi Muthee, the former chairman of Rugby Kenya, attempting to tackle the question at hand: 

    Video content

    Video caption: Are administrators failing sportsmen and women in Africa?

    Read more: Own goal? Africa's shambolic sports management

  9. Floods causing chaos in parts of Kenya

    A second day of heavy rain in parts of Kenya has flooded roads and damaged buildings.

    The Red Cross has tweeted that a perimeter wall has collapsed near the Department of Defence.

    View more on twitter

    Kenya's Star Newspaper is saying that four people died when the wall collapsed and has posted dramatic footage:

    Footage of wall collapsing

    The Red Cross is also reporting that roads have been cut off to Turkana, north-west Kenya.

    View more on twitter

    ...as well as partly blocking a road to Garissa in the east:

    View more on twitter
  10. UN: People with albinism in Malawi 'face being wiped out'

    People with albinism in Malawi "face the risk of systemic extinction over time if nothing is done,” according to the UN's independent expert on the condition.

    “Persons with albinism, and parents of children with albinism, constantly live in fear of attack," Ikponwosa Ero said on a visit to the country. 

    “The frequent involvement of close relatives in cases of attacks is highly disturbing, and persons with albinism are unable to trust even those who are supposed to care for and protect them," she added.

    According to the police, 65 cases have been recorded since late 2014.

    The British High Commission in Malawi has been tweeting from a meeting it held with Nigerian Ms Ero, who was herself born with albinism:

    View more on twitter
    View more on twitter

    In pictures: Albinism and perceptions of beauty

  11. Fancy a round of golf in northern Nigeria?

    Have you got any plans for the weekend?

    Well, if you find yourself in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, you could try out the golf course.

    We've been contacted by one of our readers, Lawrence Coelho, who sent us photographs of the course, including the greens, which he says are more like browns.

    Brown putting green

    Lawrence writes that the course was built by the British in 1908.

    There is also a metal chair, on which its said that Prince Edward sat when he visited the course.

    Chair saying 'Prince Edward Chair'

    Lawrence (pictured second left) says that the temperatures are currently reaching 41C and there is no watering system in place.

    He says that the golfers are trying to keep some things green using water from a borehole.

    Group of golfers

    And according to the club records it looks like Lawrence is quite a player, getting two holes in one in 2012.

    Hole in one board

    If you have pictures to send, you can Whatsapp them to us on +44 7341 070844.

  12. Algerian president back after medical trip

    Algeria's ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has returned home after a five-day medical visit to Geneva, Switzerland, according to the country's state news agency, the Associated Press news agency reports.

    No further details were given about the president's condition, with the visit described as a "periodic medical check-up''.

    President Bouteflika suffered a stroke in April 2013, after which he spent three months in France receiving treatment. 

    Since wining a fourth term in 2014, he has only been seen in footage and photographs carried on state television, feeding rumours about the state of his health.

    Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika
  13. Motorcycle ambulances for Ugandan patients in remote areas

    Siraj Kalyango

    BBC Swahili, Kampala

    Due to a lack of ambulance services in some remote parts of Uganda, locals have come up with ingenious way of transporting the sick, using motorcycle ambulances. 

    They are called Boda Boda Ambulances, after the popular motorcycle taxis of the same name. 

    I spotted this one at Kyetume community health centre, in Uganda's central Mukono District.

    Uganda motorcycle ambulance
  14. Former South Sudan enemies sit down together

    Pictures have come through of South Sudan's new unity government holding its first meeting today.

    President Salva Kiir can bee seen chairing the meeting:

    President Kiir chairing cabinet meeting

    His former rival and leader of the rebel forces during the civil war, Riek Machar, who is now the new first vice-president, was also at the table.

    Riek Machar at the table

    The August 2015 peace deal divided the 30 ministerial posts between allies of the two men, as well as members of South Sudanese opposition parties.

    Ministers standing up at meeting
  15. Nigeria's Buhari 'disturbed by hardship of state workers'

    Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari said he was "very disturbed by the hardship which state government workers across the country and their families were facing due to the non-payment of salaries", according to a statement on his Facebook page.  

    He said that nearly two-thirds of the country's 36 states are having trouble paying salaries.

    Nigerians writing on the BBC Africa Facebook page are not impressed:

    Quote Message: The so-called "change" of the APC government in Nigeria is becoming a total disaster. Most of the states that have funds are APC controlled and today they can't even account for the money they received from the federal government. " from Joshua Spreeding
    Joshua Spreeding

    But in response Lawrence Agusah said this is not just an issue connected to Mr Buhari's governing APC party:

    Quote Message: It will interest you to know that this problem started way before Mr Buhari became president, and it was as a result of massive looting of government money. The economy was, and still is, in a bad shape."

    Antony Haramakwere says Nigerians are not feeling the benefits of the country's strong economic growth: 

    Quote Message: It is at that moment people need to realise that being Africa's largest economy doesn't mean anything for the common people. It only has a meaning in the books of the World Bank."
    President Buhari shakes hand of China's Xi Jinping
    Image caption: President Buhari was in China recently looking for more investment to support the economy
  16. Guinea football brought under Fifa control

    Fifa has appointed a normalisation committee to take charge of Guinea's Football Federation (FGF).

    Football's world governing body acted following the "internal wrangles affecting the FGF that have halted all football competitions in Guinea".

    The committee, whose members will be selected by Fifa and the Confederation of African Football, will be tasked to organise FGF elections by 28 February.

    Guinea national team line up for photo

    Read the full BBC Sport story

  17. Police patrol Mozambique's capital but there is no protest

    A researcher for rights group Human Rights Watch has tweeted an aerial video of police vehicles patrolling the streets of Mozambique's capital, Maputo. 

    View more on twitter

    They were out ahead of what was supposed to be an anti-government protest over the undisclosed debts that the government has recently admitted to having.

    But Ms Machado has told the BBC that it turns out that there were just rumours of a protest.

    The BBC's Jose Tembe in Maputo says that the police response has led to fewer public transport vehicles on the road and fewer people going to work. 

  18. More rain in Nairobi as city tries to recover from deluge

    Kenya's capital, Nairobi, has been hit by heavy rain for a second day in a row.

    The rain came down just as the authorities were trying to clean up from the after effects of Thursday's downpour.

    The BBC's Abdinoor Aden took these pictures of a digger trying to clear up the mess:

    Digger trying to clean up the mud in Nairobi
    Digger trying to clean up the mud in Nairobi

    With the rain falling again, the BBC's Abdullahi Yusuf snapped the cars trying to make it through the water on one of Nairobi's main streets:

    Cars driving through flooded street
  19. What's on Zuma's spy mix tape

    The cartoonists behind South Africa's satirical Madam & Eve strip have tweeted a Zuma court decision special.

    The case at the high court revolved around whether the national prosecutor was correct to drop the charges against President Jacob Zuma after having listened to secretly recorded phone conversations. He said they suggested there was political interference involved in the case.

    These have become known as the spy tapes.

    View more on twitter
  20. Kenyatta: We will not stand by as we lose our elephants

    Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has been talking to heads of state and other dignitaries who have got together to discuss how to protect Africa's wildlife.

    Extracts form his speech have been posted on his Twitter account:

    View more on twitter
    View more on twitter

    The meeting will be followed on Saturday with the burning of more than 100 tonnes of ivory - nearly the entire stock of ivory confiscated by Kenya, amounting to the tusks of more than 6,700 elephants.

    Workers have spent the past week constructing the pyres which will be lit on Saturday.

    The BBC's Abdinoor Aden snapped them doing their job:

    Men moving metalwork structure for ivory pyre
    Ivory pyre

    It is actually very hard to destroy ivory, and it takes about a week to burn. Read more here.