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Live Reporting

Hugo Williams and Damian Zane

All times stated are UK

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  1. Scroll down for Tuesday's stories

    We'll be back tomorrow

    In the meantime, keep up-to-date with what is happening across the continent by listening to the Africa Today podcast and checking the BBC News website

    Today's African proverb:

    Quote Message: Hunger in your brother's house does not prevent you from sleeping." from A Luo proverb sent by Mercy Opar, Nairobi, Kenya, and Maryano Otto, Kampala, Uganda
    A Luo proverb sent by Mercy Opar, Nairobi, Kenya, and Maryano Otto, Kampala, Uganda

    Click here to contribute your proverb.  

    And we leave you with this image from africashowboy's Instagram account, which captures a Ghanaian student's ablutions before prayer.

    View more on instagram
  2. China 'offers Nigeria $6bn in loans'

    China has offered Nigeria loans worth $6bn (£4.2bn) to fund infrastructure projects in Africa's biggest economy, the Nigerian foreign minister said on Tuesday, Reuters news agency reports.

    "It is a credit that is on the table as soon as we identify the projects," Geoffrey Onyeama told reporters travelling with President Muhammadu Buhari to China, Reuters adds.

    "It won't need an agreement to be signed; it is just to identify the projects and we access it," he said.  

    Buhari meets Xi
    Image caption: Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing earlier
  3. #HarambeeStarlets trending in Kenya after qualification

    #HarambeeStarlets, the name for Kenya's women's football team, is trending on Twitter in Kenya as people congratulate the team on their first-ever qualification for a continental championship final.

    Most people have been comparing the team to their unsuccessful male counterparts - the Harambee Stars. 

    View more on twitter
    View more on twitter

    One Tweeter re-purposes CNN's controversial "hotbed of terror" description of Kenya to mark the victory:

    View more on twitter
  4. French solider killed in northern Mali

    Two French army helicopters
    Image caption: More than 3,500 French troops are based in West Africa as part of a force to combat Islamist militancy

    A French soldier stationed in Mali has been killed when his armoured car drove over a landmine.

    France's defence ministry said that the officer was travelling in a logistics convoy heading north from Gao when the explosion hit.

    Three other soldiers were wounded in the blast. 

    The office of the French president said in a statement on Twitter: 

    "President Francois Hollande has learned with sadness of the death of a French soldier, killed this morning in northern Mali".

    View more on twitter

    Read more: France - the Saharan policeman

  5. Yaya back from injury in time for PSG crunch match

    Manchester City's Yaya Toure will be available for his side's Champions League quarter-final second leg against Paris St-Germain at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night (18:45 GMT).

    The Ivory Coast international has been out for the past few weeks with a knee injury.

    Man City and French champions PSG drew 2-2 in the first leg in Paris.  

    Thanks to those two away goals in the first leg, a 0-0 or 1-1 draw, or any victory, will be enough to take Manchester City through.  

    Read the BBC Sport preview

    Yaya Toure
  6. Mozambican prosecutors 'will not be put off by murder'

    Mozambique's attorney general has responded to the murder of a public prosecutor, Marcelino Vilankulo, who was investigating a wave of kidnappings in the country, reports the BBC's Jose Tembe from the capital, Maputo.

    He was shot dead outside his home on Monday evening (see 11.30 entry).

    Taibo Mucobora said the crime would not affect the work of the Public Prosecutors' Office:

    Quote Message: This act will in no way weaken our determination to enforce the law and fight against crime."

    Two years ago, a judge was shot dead in Maputo, shortly after authorising the detention of a businessman suspected of involvement in the kidnappings. 

  7. Two presidential candidates claim victory in Comoros election

    BBC Monitoring

    Two of the three candidates who ran in Sunday's presidential election run-off in Comoros have declared themselves winners of the poll before the announcement of official results, local news website Habarizacomores reports.

    Vice-President Ali Soilih and former President Azali Assoumani have both urged their supporters to celebrate, the site adds.

    people crowd round a car carrying
    Image caption: Vice-President Ali Soilih posted photos of supporters gathering around his car early on Monday morning

    Official results from the national electoral commission are expected this week.

    Children pose for a photo, one with bananas on his head

    The three islands of Anjouan, Grande Comore and Moheli that make up the Comoros have a total population of just under 800,000 people.  

    Read more about Comoros

  8. Kenya women's football team in historic qualification

    Nick Cavell

    BBC Africa Sport

    Kenya qualified for their first-ever women’s continental football finals with an away goals win over Algeria on Tuesday after a 1-1 draw in Nairobi made the aggregate score 3-3. 

    The visiting Algerians took the lead in the first-half with a goal on 21 minutes from Naima Bouheni just after Kenya had a goal disallowed for offside. 

    Kenya looked like they would be knocked out until the 79th minute when a free-kick from Cherish Avilla secured the draw the Harambee Starlets needed. 

    They join hosts Cameroon as well as Zimbabwe, Equatorial Guinea and Egypt in November’s finals of the Africa Women Cup of Nations.

    President Uhuru Kenyatta has tweeted about the qualification:

    View more on twitter

    Kenyan media have been tweeting pictures from the game:

    View more on twitter
    View more on twitter
  9. Kenya Airways boss promises turnaround

    Anne Soy

    BBC Africa, Nairobi

    Kenya Airways boss Mbuvi Ngunze has told the BBC that the airline will return to profitability in a year. 

    The carrier is in the middle of a critical recovery plan following more than three years of massive losses. 

    During the last financial year, the airline lost more than $250m (£175m).

    But, in a twist, last weekend it was named the leading African airline at the prestigious World Travel Awards, unseating South African Airlines for the first time in more than 20 years. 

    Mr Ngunze says Kenya’s national carrier had been caught in a perfect storm in the last four years as travel was hit by security concerns and fears about Ebola. 

    Mbuvi Ngunze
    Image caption: Kenya Airways boss Mbuvi Ngunze says the airline's fortunes will change
  10. Are Rwanda's buses first stop towards a cashless future?

    Rwandan buses are switching to cashless payment. 

    A victory for technological progress, but what will happen to the traditional bus conductor?

    Read the full story from journalist Chris Matthews.

    Picture of inside of a bus fitted with the new cashless payment system
    Rwanda's new cashless Tap and Go awards
    Image caption: The cashless bus card may be a sign of more technological advances to come in the Rwandan capital, Kigali
    new cashless ticket machine on bus in Rwanda
    Image caption: Money that goes to drivers and conductors in the cash system now goes direct to the bus company
  11. Two Zambia journalists charged with defaming president

    Meluse Kapatamoyo

    BBC Africa, Lusaka, Zambia

    Zambian police have officially charged two journalists working for the privately-owned Post newspaper for defaming President Edgar Lungu.

    Funga Mukosha and Joan Chirwa have been jointly along with Erick Chanda, leader of the opposition 4th Revolution Party. 

    They are due to appear in court on 18 April. 

    This is in connection with a story where Mr Chanda is said to have defamed President Lungu in comments he made last year about a holiday the president took shortly after his inauguration.  

    The journalists have both been released on a police bond.

    Edgar Lungu
    Image caption: President Lungu faces an election in August
  12. DR Congo agree to play at Cosafa Cup

    African Nations Championship winners Democratic Republic of Congo have accepted an invitation to participate in the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) Cup in Namibia in June.

    DR Congo will replace the Comoros Islands, who withdrew for a second successive year.

    Originally scheduled for May, the tournament is now being staged from 11 to 25 June after hosts Namibia requested a change of dates.

    DR Congo celebrate their CHAN victory
    Image caption: DR Congo won the 2016 Chan

    Read the full BBC Sport story

  13. South Sudan rebels 'beaten up' in Juba

    Mr Kiir (L) and Mr Machar
    Image caption: Rivalry between Mr Kiir (L) and Mr Machar transformed into open conflict in late 2013

    A spokesman for rebels in South Sudan says security officials have arrested and severely beaten members of their publicity team, days before the expected arrival of rebel leader Riek Machar (see entry at 09:03), the Associated Press news agency reports. 

    Mr Machar's arrival in the capital Juba is being viewed as a vital step towards ending the country's civil war.

    He is due to take up the position of vice-president in a new unity government, agreed as part of a peace deal. 

    The second most senior member of Mr Machar's SPLM-IO rebel group has arrived in the capital Juba in the past few minutes. 

    View more on twitter

    Their attempt to canvass support ahead of his arrival led to their arrest, according to an SPLM-IO spokesman, quoted by local Radio Tamazuj.

  14. Italy foreign minister meets new Libya government in Tripoli

    The Italian foreign minister has held talks in Tripoli with the head of Libya's new unity government, Fayez Seraj. 

    Paolo Gentiloni is the first European official to visit Libya since a UN-backed government was installed in the capital two weeks ago. 

    Libya's former colonial ruler, along with other Western governments, has offered support to the new government, in the hope that it will unite the country and combat Islamic State militants. 

    The unity government is meant to replace two rival governments backed by armed factions, which established themselves after the fall of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

    The Italian foreign ministry has been tweeting photos from the meeting:

    View more on twitter

    AFP news agency's own reporter is excited about the significance of the visit:

    View more on twitter

    Read more: Has Libya pulled back from the brink?

  15. Africa to be hit by slower economic growth in 2016

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) economic growth forecasts for the continent have been revised downwards, in line with a less rosy view of global economic performance.

    In its latest report it says that growth in sub-Saharan Africa's economy this year "is expected to remain weak" at 3%, which is lower than forecast last year.

    The continent's oil exporting countries - especially Angola and Nigeria - have been particularly hard hit by a fall in the oil price.

    Forecasts have been dramatically revised downwards for Nigeria.

    The economy is now expected to grow by 2.3% this year as opposed to 4.1%, a figure predicted by the IMF in January.

    Drought has also had an impact on some countries, notably Ethiopia.

    Last year it was one if the fastest growing economies in the world at 10.2%, but this year growth is forecast at 4.5%.

    Ghana is one of the positive stories - with the economy due to grow at 4.5% this year.

    The IMF says that Ghana is emerging from problems caused by power shortages.

    Oil worker in Nigeria
    Image caption: Nigeria's economy has been hit by a big fall in oil prices
  16. Senegal Airlines to close after big losses

    Abdourahmane Dia

    BBC Afrique

    Senegalese authorities have announced that the country's national carrier Senegal Airlines will be replaced by a new one in the coming weeks. 

    The move follows a decision by the aviation regulator to revoke the company's air operator's certificate due to major losses and mismanagement.

    Finance Minister Ahmadou Ba made the announcement but did not give details on the new company set to replace Senegal Airlines crippled by debt. 

    The airline, created in 2009, owes more than $78m (£550m) to creditors, and the union leaders, speaking on behalf of its 229 workers, say they are owed several months' worth of pay. 

    Senegal Airlines plane

    Several African airliners are feeling the effects of stiff competition from major carriers. 

    Last month, Cape Verde's national airline announced plans to reduce its workforce and to review flight destinations. 

    Kenya Airways also recently announced that it would lay off 600 workers.

  17. Yellow fever spreads from Angola to DR Congo

    Twenty-one people have died in a yellow fever outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization says in a statement.

    More than 150 people have been infected and some of the cases have been linked to the recent outbreak in neighbouring Angola.

    The current yellow fever outbreak in Angola has killed more than 200 people.

    Aedes Aegypti mosquito
    Image caption: Yellow fever is spread by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito
  18. People still queueing for fuel in Nigeria's north-east

    The BBC's Stephanie Hegarty, who's on a reporting trip in Yola state in the north-east of Nigeria, says the fuel queues are still long there, and sent us a short video of cars lining up at the filling station.

    Video content

    Video caption: Nigeria fuel queues in Yola

    The country is currently going through a fuel shortage, partly because there's a lack of foreign currency to import petrol and diesel.

    Long queues have been seen in many parts of Nigeria.

    Junior oil minister Emmanuel Kachikwu said the shortage should be over soon.

    Read more: Why is Africa's largest oil producer short of petrol?

  19. Inside Africa's tallest statue - in Senegal

    When Africa's tallest statue was completed in Senegal six years ago, there were some critics who thought it was rather extravagant. 

    The 49 metre African Renaissance Monument is said to have cost the country some $27m (£19m), which many said should have been spent elsewhere. 

    But many tourists find the city's landmark very attractive - take a look inside and outside:

    Video content

    Video caption: Inside Africa's tallest statue - in Senegal
  20. Claims that internet services cut in Ethiopia's restive Oromia region

    People in parts of Ethiopia, including the troubled Oromia region, have been unable to use some web messaging applications, including WhatsApp and Twitter, for more than a month, the Bloomberg news agency is reporting.

    Ethiopians rely on the state-owned telecoms monopoly Ethio Telecom for their connection to the internet.

    Bloomberg quotes one frustrated user as saying that "the blackout is targeted at mobile data connections".

    The current wave of protests in Oromia, which broke out last year, have claimed the lives of more than 200 people, according to rights groups, a figure the government disputes. 

    The government told Bloomberg that the loss of service is due to connection problem and not a deliberate policy.

    Oromo mourners
    Image caption: People in the Oromia region have long complained of marginalisation by the Ethiopian authorities