Africa highlights: Wednesday 26 August 2015

Nigeria's anti-corruption boss Ibrahim Lamorde has denied allegations that $5bn (£3.2bn) has gone missing at the commission he heads.

A Senate committee is investigating charges that assets and cash recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were diverted.

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Mr Lamorde told the BBC it was a smear campaign as the EFCC was prosecuting the man making the allegations.

This showed that the case "should not be taken seriously".

Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, who is championing the investigation, was passed the petition by George Uboh, a security consultant.

Mr Uboh is currently fighting charges of stealing government property, which he denies.

Here's a photo of South Sudan's President Salva Kiir signing the peace deal to end conflict in the world's youngest state:

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Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn were among the regional leaders who congratulated him for signing the deal:

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Readers have been commenting on the BBC Africa Facebook page to Kenya's success at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing, where it sits top of the medal table after taking gold in the men's javelin and the women's 3000m steeplechase on Wednesday:

Benedict Okot says: "Javelin is an African game. Our ancestors used to hunt using spears. Congratulations Julius Yego."

Dolly Wairimu adds: "Tell CNN Kenya is a hotbed of champions."

So what about the fact that two Kenyan runners have been suspended after failing doping tests?

Rudolph Melvin Mathias comments: "Every country has some rotten apples... The success of Kenyan elite athletes cannot be disputed. They are natural world beaters."

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The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo says it's going to stop feeding 7,000 former rebels next month.

It could no longer afford to do so, and it was the government's responsibility to provide them with food, the mission added.

The ex-fighters are based in camps in eastern DR Congo, which has been affected by numerous rebellions over the past 20 years.

Conditions are so poor in some of the camps that some people have reportedly left and have taken up arms again.

Marriages of convenience happen all over the world - and for many different reasons. 

In Mara region in the northern corner of Tanzania, an age-old tradition involves women marrying women, as a way to beat inheritance practices which favour. 

This alternative family structure - known as Nyumba Nthobu - has adapted to modern times. The BBC's Tulanana Bohela has been finding out more:

One of the two generals who defected earlier this month from the rebel side in South Sudan has condemned the peace deal, saying it is "not for the whole of South Sudan".

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General Gathoth Gatkuoth told me he will continue fighting, although it's not clear how many fighters he has under his command.

"If they don't listen to us they'll listen to the bullets," he said, referring to both the government and rebel leader Riek Machar.

Earlier President Salva Kiir signed a peace deal in the capital Juba, aimed at bringing an end to the 20-month conflict

Acclaimed Somali authors and singers are attending the first international literature festival to be held in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.

The festival offers a packed three days of book launches, poetry readings, films, art and photo exhibitions. There'll also be song and traditional Somali dance.

Organising the festival has taken a great deal of courage, and security will be crucial.

Militant Islamist group al-Shabab, which used to control most of Mogadishu, bans many forms of culture, and continues to stage attacks in the city.

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Update 4 September: We have changed the photo used to illustrate this entry written by Mary Harper. The original photo, which was selected by our production team in London, was criticised by some readers as unsuitable. We have now replaced it with one which better represents the fair.

The hashtag #RanarHausa has been trending on Twitter in Nigeria after a blogger encouraged Hausa speakers to only tweet in their language. 

"Ranar Hausa" means "Hausa day", and the aim of the hashtag is to celebrate the language. 

At least 50 million people speak Hausa, which is one of the most widely spoken languages in Africa. As well as Nigeria, it is spoken in Niger, Ghana, Cameroon and a number of other countries.

Mansur Liman, the head of the BBC's Hausa service, finished his tweet with a wish in Hausa: "May the language continue to grow".

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Africa's richest man, Nigerian business tycoon Aliko Dangote has been speaking about the global economic crisis, and its impact on his business.

"Of course we are affected but we are not badly affected because we are not 100% in oil," Mr Dangote told the BBC Hausa service's Umar Elleman, referring to the drop in global commodity prices.

"We are a fully diversified company. So today if oil is doing bad it doesn't mean we are doing bad and that's the good thing about diversification," he added.

Ivory Coast and Manchester City football star Yaya Toure has tweeted his congratulations to Team Kenya, who currently sit atop the medal table in Beijing after winning two more gold medals today:

There may be worrying economic news coming out of China but here in Lagos - the commercial capital of Nigeria - a deal has been signed which points to the immense opportunities that still exist in Africa.

The Chinese engineering company, Sinoma, is going to build seven plants across the continent and one in Nepal. They are all for Nigeria's expanding Dangote cement group.

Umar Elleman Copyright: Umar Elleman

The deal is worth $4.3bn (£2.6bn) and points to how vital cement is for the continent's infrastructure boom at a time when the price of other commodities like oil and copper are hitting African economies hard.

President Salva Kiir made it perfectly clear he was unhappy with the deal.

He said he signed it with huge, regrettable reservations, and he wanted these to go on record.

His concerns include the shape of the military after rebel and government forces are merged.

And perhaps most of all, the power-sharing deal whereby the rebels will hold a vice presidential post and other senior roles.

This does not bode well for peace in South Sudan. Seven previous ceasefire agreements have fallen apart, with both sides engaged in what the United Nations has described as incredible violence against civilians.

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About 50 people have been found dead in the hold of a boat carrying migrants intercepted off the coast of Libya, the Italian coastguard says.

About 430 people had been rescued alive from the boat, a spokeswoman told Reuters news agency.

The rescue operation was carried out by a Swedish vessel, Poseidon, working with the EU's Frontex border agency.

Read the full BBC story here

LA Times Correspondent Robyn Dixon was live-tweeting Salva Kiir's speech as he signed the peace deal aimed at bringing an end to South Sudan's civil war: 

South Sudanese radio station Eye Radio also covered the speech live on its twitter feed:

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir said differences over power-sharing and the overall command of the army still needed to be resolved.

There were also reports of fighting in the oil-producing Unity State, and this showed that much work still needed to be done to achieve peace, he added.

Read the full BBC story here

At the signing ceremony in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, President Salva Kiir said he still had serious reservations about the deal.

A ceasefire is due to begin within 72 hours, foreign forces have to leave the country, and no troops will be allowed near the capital Juba.

Mr Kiir - who came under intense international pressure to endorse the agreement - is to enter a government of national unity with the rebel leader, Riek Machar.

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A court in Liberia has found three former government officials in the forestry industry guilty of economic sabotage.

The court ruled that the men had caused Liberia to lose $6m (£3.8) in revenue by issuing 61 land use permits in violation of a moratorium on all activities in the industry.

The three denied the charge, and said they would appeal.

The court ordered them to pay back the money or serve a five-year jail sentence.

South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk has won the 400 metres at the World Athletics Championships and reclaimed the African record at 43.48s.

He finished ahead of defending champion LaShawn Merritt of the USA who took silver and the Olympic champion Kirani James of Grenada who was third.

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Isaac Makwala of Botswana, whose African record van Niekerk broke, was back in fifth place. Sudan-born Rabah Yousif, who now races for Great Britain, was sixth.

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Hyvin Kiyeng Jepkemoi of Kenya won gold in the women's 3,000 metres steeple chase by outsprinting Tunisia's Habiba Ghribi in the final straight.

In a very close finish, Germany's Gesa Krause claimed bronze. Olympic and world bronze medallist Sofia Assefa of Ethiopia was fourth.

Just 14 hundredths of a second split the medallists - Kenya now have the men's and women's steeple chase titles after Ezekiel Kemboi won gold earlier in the week.

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South Africa's Anaso Jobodwana set a personal best of 20.01 to reached Thursday's final of the men's 200 metres as he finished second in his semi-final behind reigning champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica.

But Jobodwana's compatriot Akani Simbine missed out as he finished sixth in his semi-final in a time of 20.37.

USA's Justin Gatlin, who is the fastest in the world this year, also progressed to the final as he finished ahead of Nigeria-born Femi Ogunode, who ran 20.05 to set a new record for his adopted nation Qatar and qualify as one of the fastest losers. Like Gatlin, Ogunode has a drug ban that ended last year.

The 16-year-old Abdul Hakim Sani Brown, who runs for Japan but has a Ghanaian father, did not progress as he finished fifth in his semi-final

NIC bank is set to become the first financial institution in East Africa to allow its customers to use social media platforms for banking services.

NIC Konnect will allow customers to transfer funds and check their financial statements via Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter, the bank says.

Statistics show that more than four million Kenyans use Facebook while about two million own smartphones connected to the messaging service WhatsApp.

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Twitter, on the other hand, has an estimated 700,000 active users on a monthly basis.

NIC bank has branches in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

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South Africa's Wanda Nel failed to get among the medals in the final of the women's 400 metres hurdles as Zuzana Hejnova of the Czech Republic successfully defended her title.

Nel finished seventh with the US duo of Shamier Little claiming silver and Cassandra Little in third.

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Kenya's javelin star Julius Yego has won his country's first ever World Athletics Championship medal in a field event today and also set a new African record of 92.72 in the javelin.

It is the longest throw anywhere in the world since Jan Zelezny, who still holds the world record of 98.48 at the world championships in 2001 and only he and Aki Parviainen of Finland have thrown further than Yego now.

Former African record holder Ihab Abdelrahman El Sayed of Egypt claimed silver with his throw of 88.99.

Kenya's athletics body has been reacting to the suspension of two runners, Joyce Zakary and Koki Manunga, after they tested positive for doping at the World Championships in Beijing,

"Athletics Kenya (AK) has already met with the IAAF and the athletes involved, and has begun investigating the situation which led to these results," said the national governing body. "Follow-up action will be taken in Kenya."

Thirteen Kenyan athletes are currently serving suspensions for doping offences.

People have been reacting on Twitter after Kenya's Julius Yego went into first place in the javelin at the World Athletics Championships, breaking his own African record in the process. 

The first knockout stage of the Afrobasket Championships in Tunisia continues today at 12:30 GMT with unbeaten Senegal playing winless Uganda. That's followed by Cape Verde against Gabon at 15:00 GMT.

Nigeria take on Mozambique before the final match of the round sees Cameroon face Algeria.

Reigning champions Angola were pushed all the way by the Central African Republic on Tuesday before edging a 62-61 win - in the quarter-finals Angola now face Egypt, who thrashed Zimbabwe 102-62.

Mali also advanced to the last eight with a 76-57 over Ivory Coast - hosts Tunisia also grabbed a one point victory over North African rivals Morocco 69-68. Mali and Tunisia meet in the last eight - all the quarter-finals are on Thursday.

Julius Yego breaks his own African record by throwing 92.72 with his third attempt to take the lead with three throws remaining - Ihab Abdelrahman El Sayed was in second place at (11:36 GMT).

The Kenyan javelin star told the BBC he taught himself to throw the javelin by watching YouTube videos.

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Readers have been commenting on the BBC Africa Facebook page about the peace deal expected to be signed by South Sudan's President Salva Kiir later today.

Tamsanqa Mlilo says: "It is the spirit behind the signature, not the signature in the document which will bring peace in South Sudan. Making peace with your erstwhile enemy is life changing. The benefits are huge. Let peace reign in Sudan."

Frank Chinedu Ekwunife says: "I just pity the innocent civilians, especially mothers and children."

Three regional leaders are currently holding talks with South Sudan's President Salva Kiir at the national palace in Juba.

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They include Kenya's Uhuru Kenyatta, Uganda's Yoweri Museveni and Ethiopia's Hailemariam Desalegn, who are all here to see Mr Kiir sign a peace deal to end the conflict which broke out in 2013.

Ivorian Marie-Josee Ta Lou won her semi-final of the women's 200 metres at the World Athletics Championships in a new personal best of 22.73 - South Africa's Justine Palframan was third in the same heat. It means both are through to the Thursday's semi-finals.

Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria was a non-starter in her 200m semi-final and is not on the start list for tomorrow's long jump - no reason has been given so far for her withdrawal from the two events.

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Koki Manunga and Joyce Zakary, who are both Kenyan 400 metres runners, were tested at their team hotel on 20 and 21 August, said the IAAF.

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These are the key points from the peace deal South Sudan's President Salva Kiir is expected to sign in the capital Juba this afternoon:

• Fighting to stop immediately. Soldiers to be confined to barracks in 30 days, foreign forces to leave within 45 days, and child soldiers and prisoners of war to be freed

• All military forces to go outside 25km (15-mile) radius of Juba, to be replaced by unspecified "guard forces" and Joint Integrated Police

• Rebels get post of "first vice-president"

• Transitional government of national unity to take office in 90 days and govern for 30 months

• Elections to be held 60 days before end of transitional government's mandate

• Government gets clear majority of legislative posts at national level and in seven of the 10 states

• But in battleground states - Jonglei, Unity, and Upper Nile - rebels get almost the same representation as government

• Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing to investigate human rights violations.

Read the full BBC piece here

The two Kenyan athletes who failed pre-competition drugs tests at the world championships in Beijing have been provisionally suspended, the IAAF has said.

Koki Manunga and Joyce Zakary "have accepted provisional suspensions following positive samples provided in Beijing on the 20th and 21st of August respectively", the IAAF statement says.

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The final race of the day at the World Athletics Championships is men's 400 metres final at 13:25 GMT with African record holder Isaac Makwala of Botswana and South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk looking to get among the medals.

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Van Niekerk held the African record for just 24 hours earlier this year before Makwala set the current mark of 43.72 on 5 July, that's also the fastest time in the world this year.

But Granada's Kirani James is the Olympic champion and looked in good form as he won his heat and then semi-final too. Defending champion LaShawn Merritt of the USA is also in the final as is Sudan-born Rabah Yousif, who now races for Great Britain.

As the Somali capital Mogadishu hosts its first ever international book fair, local station Radio Dalsan has tweeted this photo of 16-year-old Abukar Abdullahi Mohamed, who it says is the youngest author participating in the event.

Radio DalsanCopyright: Radio Dalsan

The organisers of the event say the aim is to revive an appreciation for culture in a country devastated by more than two decades of conflict. The jihadist group Al-Shabab, which opposes many forms of Somali culture, continues to stage attacks in Mogadishu.

George Orwell's classic political satire, Animal Farm, which skewered the brutal dictatorship of early 20th century Soviet Russia, has been given a contemporary update by a South African theatre group, bringing in references to the country's governing African National Congress party.

ShakeXperience theatre companyCopyright: ShakeXperience theatre company

The scandal of the multi-million dollar upgrades to President Jacob Zuma's private Nkandala residence and the massacre of 34 miners at Marikana are just two of the examples used to make the story's message relevant to the modern audience.

Actress Khutjo Green told BBC's Newsday programme how the very first performance went.

The South African duo of Akani Simbine and Anaso Jobodwana both race in the men's 200 metres semi-finals at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing at 11:30 GMT.

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Jobodwana redeemed himself after he was disqualified for a false start in the heats for the 100 metres by winning his heat in 20.22. Simbine set a personal best of 20.23 seconds as he finished fourth in his heat to claim one of the three places for fastest losers.

Defending champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica advanced to the semi-finals as did the USA's Justin Gatlin. One other athlete to look out for is 16-year-old Abdul Hakim Sani Brown who runs for Japan but has a Ghanaian father.

The top two in each of the three semi-finals and the next fastest two advance to Thursday's final at 12:55 GMT.

South Africa's police watchdog body will launch an investigation after a video showing alleged police brutality went viral, local media reports.

The video, which has been viewed more than 140,000 times on YouTube, shows an alleged assault by police on two men in Johannesburg, after they have been asked by officers to get out of their car.

"Everybody at the Douglasdale Police Station was very upset by the video and the two in it have been identified by the acting station commander," a police spokesman is quoted by South Africa's News 24 website as saying.

It comes amid intense scrutiny of police brutality in South Africa, after eight policemen were found guilty on Tuesday of murdering Mozambican taxi driver Mido Macia in 2013.

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South Africa's Wanda Nel goes in the final of the women's 400 metres hurdles at 12:10 GMT but will have to run well to get among the medals as five of the finalists have run faster than her this year.

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Zuzana Hejnova of the Czech Republic will start as the favourite to defend her title.

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South Africa's Godfrey Kohtso Mokoena made up for missing out on the final of the long jump by progressing to Thursday's final of the triple jump. Also into the final are Jonathan Drack of Mauritius and former African and Commonwealth champion Tosin Oke of Nigeria. But all three with have to jump very well to beat favourite Pedro Pichardo of Cuba

Ivory Coast's Murielle Ahoure, who won two silver medals at the last World Championships, has a knee injury that means she is not on the start list for the women's 200 metres heats. She failed to make the final of the 100 metres earlier this week.

Africa's hopes, therefore, rest on South Africa's Justine Palframan, Ivorian Marie-Josee Ta Lou and Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare, who finished last in the 100 metres final.

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The 200 metres heats begin at 11:15 GMT with the top three in each heat and the 3 next fastest runners progress to Thursday's semi-finals.

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In javelin, Kenya's Julius Yego is aiming for his country's first ever World Athletics Championship medal in a field event today at 11:05 GMT.

Yego, whose throw of 91.39 metres in Birmingham is the longest throw of the year and an African record, missed out on a bronze medal two years ago when he was overtaken in the final round of throws.

Former African record holder Ihab Abdelrahman El Sayed of Egypt is also in the final as is the defending champion Vitezslav Vesely from the Czech Republic.

Botswana's Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of two HIV positive prisoners who challenged the government’s policy of refusing HIV treatment to prisoners who are non-citizens, the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) tweets:

Former world champion Caster Semenya, who won her title in 2009 in Berlin, made it through to Thursday's semi-finals of the women's 800 metres.

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Also through is the favourite and reigning champion Eunice Sum of Kenya, who has the fastest time of the year so far. The Moroccan duo of Rababe Arafi and Malika Akkaoui are also in the semi-finals.

After her heat Semanya told BBC World Service Sport's Ade Adedoyin: "After the Olympics I dislocated my knee so since then it has been very hard for me. I only had the South African season and two races over 800m and 400m. It's going to be hard because I don't have race fitness. Success will be just getting to the final."

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir will enter into a government of national unity with rebel leader Riek Machar in terms of a peace deal due to be signed today, his spokesman has told the BBC.

"We will implement the agreement if we sign it. If our president signs it today we will have to implement the agreement in letter and in spirit," Ateny Wek Ateny said.

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir will sign the peace deal he previously snubbed in the capital Juba this morning, his spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny has told the BBC.

The signing will take place in front of regional leaders, including Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni.

The president would also be expressing his "reservations" about certain parts of the deal to those present, his spokesman said.

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Three Ethiopians and three Kenyans have made it through to Saturday's final of the men's 5000 metres at the World Athletics Championships - including Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha, who has the fastest time of 2015 so far.

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Also through to challenge defending champion Mo Farah of Great Britain are Imane Merga and Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia as well as the Kenyan trio of Edwin Soi, Caleb Ndiku and Isiah Koech.

Farah, who is aiming for a second medal of the championships, had to recover from almost tripping over on the final lap to reach the final.

The first ever international book fair in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, is under way with organisers saying it will be an occasion "to celebrate books, literature and stimulate the revival of various kinds of human expression in Somali society".

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You can read more on the official website.

Security forces in Niger have dismantled a counterfeiting operation, confiscating at least 270 million CFA francs ($470,000; £244,000) in fake euro and dollar notes, state-owned television has reported.

Officers who raided the site in Takieta, a town in the centre of the West African nation, also discovered counterfeit passports, car insurance papers and license plates, it reports.

The suspects fled before the security forces could arrest them, the report said.

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir is due to sign a peace deal to end a civil war which has killed tens of thousands of people and left up to two million homeless in the world's youngest state. It is the same deal he refused to sign last week.

The move comes amid a warning by the UN Security Council that it will impose an arms embargo and targeted sanctions on South Sudan from 1 September if Mr Kiir fails to endorse the agreement.

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Regional leaders are travelling to South Sudan for the signing ceremony.

Rebel leader Riek Machar has already signed the deal.

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Today's African proverb: The winged termite can only fly for a while; it will eventually become food for the frog. Sent by Wise-Williams, Nigeria.

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