Africa highlights: Uganda's 'sham election', Zuma survives no-confidence vote

Djibouti's government has reacted to a ruling by a London court to acquit the former head of the port authority, Abdourahman Borreh, of siphoning millions of dollars from a contract to expand the harbour. 

In a statement, it said: 

Quote Message: The Republic of Djibouti is extremely disappointed with the result of the trial and disagrees with the findings made by the court.

The Republic of Djibouti is extremely disappointed with the result of the trial and disagrees with the findings made by the court.

Quote Message: The Republic of Djibouti is exploring urgently with its lawyers the best course of action to take, including the possibility of an appeal."

The Republic of Djibouti is exploring urgently with its lawyers the best course of action to take, including the possibility of an appeal."

See our 14:21 post for more details

The number of middle-class Africans becoming drug users have increased in countries that once acted as "key transit point" for narcotics headed for Europe, a UN-linked body has said, AFP news agency reports.

Powerful criminal gangs are also exploiting the new markets, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) said at a launch of the report in Senegal's capital, Dakar. 

"The increase in illicit drug use in West Africa has resulted in challenges related to security, treatment and negative health and social consequences of that drug use," the report said. 

AFPCopyright: AFP

Benin and Namibia were particularly affected by the phenomenon, with Chinese and eastern European gangs establishing "a significant presence" in South Africa, INCB added.

Elsewhere, cannabis production in Morocco and Nigeria was indicative of those countries' dual roles as producers and consumers of the drug, which was also the most commonly abused narcotic in Africa, AFP quotes the report as saying.

A Zambian opposition leader has been arrested on charges of training a private militia. 

Police rounded up about 20 young men at a gym owned by Geoffrey Mwamba, the vice president of the main opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) party. 

The authorities said they found a pistol, ammunition and machetes at the gym. 

BBCCopyright: BBC

Mr Mwamba, who denies the charges, has been released on bail and will formally appear in court on 10 March. 

The leader of the UPND, Hakainde Hichilema, is seen as the main challenger to President Edgar Lungu in this year's election, scheduled for August.

A day after launching Zimbabwe People First, former Vice-President Joice Mujuru is now getting down to the business of generating support for the new opposition party.

Mrs Mujuru, the widow of Zimbabwe's first post-independence army commander, was fired from Robert Mugabe's government and the ruling Zanu-PF party in December 2014.

The BBC’s Nomsa Maseko asked her whether she had any regrets after dedicating more than 30 years of her life to Zanu-PF:

AFPCopyright: AFP

Nigerian cement magnate Aliko Dangote's rise up the Forbes list of global billionaires was unexpected because the West African state's currency has fallen sharply. 

The Nigeria Stock Exchange was badly affected as investors sold their stocks, and that is where Dangote Industries is the largest listed entity.

But Mr Dangote has hedged his wealth by expanding his business into different markets such as Ethiopia, where the economy consistently performs well and is fairly stable.

He has also diversified his investments, spreading them across infrastructure and food products.

More importantly with the exception of the oil refinery he is building with the Chinese, he really has limited exposure in the industry.

AFPCopyright: AFP

He is not afraid to let go of a business that is not working well. In the past, he sold subsidiaries such as Dangote Flour Mills that were not profitable, although he recently had to retain equity in that business.

On a personal note, Mr Dangote is known to be a bit conservative with money and not flamboyant.

Whilst he does have a private jet and a yacht, they are mainly used as company property for business trips, not for pleasure.

It may very well be that an attitude of saving and reinvesting has earned him more money in volatile markets than what others have lost.

AFPCopyright: AFP

It looks like a ban on importing second-hand clothes in East Africa is not going to happen anytime soon.

The East African Community trade bloc had announced that a possible ban would be discussed at today’s meeting between Burundian, Kenyan, Rwandan, Tanzanian, and Ugandan leaders.

But at the meeting, the leaders veered away from a full ban.

Instead, they urged East African governments to make sure that the imports comply with sanitary standards.

The meeting also emphasised promoting the local textile industry.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Prosecutors in Rwanda have called for 22-year jail sentences against two senior military figures on trial for inciting rebellion against President Paul Kagame, AFP news agency reports. 

Former presidential guard chief and serving colonel, Tom Byabagamba, and retired brigadier-general Frank Rusagara, were arrested in August 2014, have denied the charges, it reports. 

The prosecutor said Brig-Gen Rusagara had been heard saying Rwanda "is a police state and a banana republic", and that he had described Mr Kagame as a "dictator", AFP reports. 

For his part, Col Byabagamba had allegedly said that the FDLR, a Hutu militia group based in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, was no longer a major threat to Rwanda, AFP reports. 

Uganda and Tanzania have agreed to build a pipeline linking landlocked Ugandan oilfields to the Indian Ocean. 

Tanzania's President John Magufuli said the project would create more than 15,000 jobs. Tanzania has been competing with Kenya to build the pipeline through its territory. 

Some oil companies working in Uganda expressed security concerns about the Kenyan option, as Islamist militants are increasingly active in some parts of the country. 

The Tanzanian pipeline option, stretching over 1,000km (620 miles), was also said to be cheaper.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Investigators searching for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are examining images of an object found off the coast of Mozambique, reports say.

The piece of debris, reportedly found on a sandbank off the coast of the southern African country, could be from a Boeing 777, according to NBC news.

MH370 disappeared in March 2014 while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. All 239 people on board remain missing.

One confirmed piece of debris has been found before, on Reunion Island.

Read the full BBC story here

Missing Malaysia plane MH370: What we know

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Nigeria's interim coach Samson Siasia has given up in his bid to lure keeper Vincent Enyeama and Emmanuel Emenike back from international retirement.

Both players quit the Super Eagles last October after falling out with former coach Sunday Oliseh.

When Oliseh resigned on Friday Siasia asked the duo to reconsider but they have rejected the idea of a return.

"You can't force them to rescind their decision and we have to respect that," Siasia told BBC Sport.

"Nigeria is blessed with talented footballers and we need to work with those players. We have to live away from the past and focus on a promising future,"  he added.

Read the full story here

At least 28 civilians including five children have been killed in fighting across Libya so far this year, the UN said, AFP news agency reports. 

The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), which has been pushing the country's warring factions to sign a peace deal, said 38 civilians had also been wounded since 1 January.

"Due to limited access and the multiple parties engaged in the conflict... UNSMIL was unable to determine with certainty which party caused these civilian casualties," it said in a statement.   

Libya descended into chaos since the 2011 Nato-backed uprising which led to the ouster of Moammar Gadhafi.

In recent years sales of digital books have expanded rapidly, but in many parts of the world the paperback is still king.

In downtown Johannesburg, there are at least 55 book dealers selling mainly second-hand books, from market stalls and informal stands, close to the train station.

BBC News meets one of them plying his trade on the streets of the South African city.

AFPCopyright: AFP

UK lawyers representing the ex-head of Djibouti's port authority, Abdourahman Borreh, has issued a statement following his client's acquittal on charges of bribery and corruption in a London commercial court. 

The charges were brought by Djibouti's government, which accused Mr Borreh of siphoning millions of dollars from a contract to expand the harbour. 

"Mr Justice Flaux rejected all of the claimants’ allegations of bribery and corruption, finding that Mr Borreh was 'justly proud' of what he had achieved for his country, and was 'not a man who would take bribes to sell his country short,'" Mr Borreh's legal representatives said. 

"All of the claimants’ witnesses were found to have been unreliable; and some, including the President of Djibouti [Ismael Omar Guelleh], were found to have given untruthful evidence to the court," their statement added. 

The government and Mr Guelleh, who gave a statement to the court, have not yet commented. 

AFPCopyright: AFP

The chief whip of South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) has resigned from parliament with immediate effect. 

Stone Sizani's decision comes at a time when President Jacob Zuma is under growing pressure, with the opposition asking the Constitutional Court to rule that he breached the constitution by failing to pay the government for upgrades to his private home, including the building of a swimming pool. 

Mr Zuma survived a no-confidence vote in parliament yesterday, when the opposition accused him of corruption and being reckless with the economy - charges which he denies. 

Mr Sizani has not given any reason for his decision, but it has got South Africans commenting on Twitter: 

Seven men in Malawi have been burned to death after they were found allegedly in possession of human bones. 

Police say a crowd poured petrol on the men and set them alight in a village in the far south of the country. 

The bones are believed to have belonged to albinos. Their body parts are thought by some to bring luck and are used in witchcraft. 

The United Nations says nine albinos have been killed in Malawi in the past year.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Nigeria's government will "very soon" start a new round of talks with South African mobile phone giant MTN in an attempt to resolve the long-running dispute over a $3.9bn (£2.8bn) fine, the telecommunications minister has said, Reuters news agency reports. 

Adebayo Shittu added that President Muhammadu Buhari will make the final decision on any settlement over the penalty. 

"It is within his power and jurisdiction to do that if he feels that it would be in the interests of Nigeria to so do," he told Reuters. 

Last week, MTN said it had withdrawn a lawsuit against Nigeria over the fine, originally set at $5.2bn, and would try to reach a settlement. 

MTN was fined for failing to disconnect unregistered Sim users and has paid $250m towards the fine so far.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has arrived in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, as part of his week-long visit to Africa. 

Mr Erdogan, who has already been to Ivory Coast and Ghana, is trying to increase Turkey's commercial ties with the continent.

A member of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's media team has been tweeting about the visit:

The world newest nation, South Sudan, has been admitted as a member of the East African Community (EAC) trade bloc at a meeting of regional leaders in Arusha, Tanzania.

A Kenyan newspaper has tweeted: