Africa highlights: Mugabe teases Zuma, Nigeria's leader wanted to 'abscond'

A football manager in The Gambia has paid tribute to goalkeeper Fatim Jawara, who drowned at the age of 19 while trying to cross the Mediterranean. 

 Chorro Mbega, manager of the Red Scorpions club for which Jawara played, told the BBC that she was "a very lovely person, always smiling... very bold and intelligent".  

Mbega said she could not understand why Jawara, who played for the national women's team, decided to embark on such a risky journey:    

Quote Message: I'm really sad about this because she fought so much to be number one in the Gambia"

I'm really sad about this because she fought so much to be number one in the Gambia"

In the BBC Focus on Africa interview, Mbega recalled the determination and versatility Jawara showed, after begging her to let her play outfield in a tour match and then contributing an assist:

Quote Message: In her first international game for the club, she did not play as a goalie, but as a striker. She was a player who could play anywhere on the field. She loved the game so much."

In her first international game for the club, she did not play as a goalie, but as a striker. She was a player who could play anywhere on the field. She loved the game so much."

Mbega first heard that the young goalkeeper had gone travelling in September, after getting a phone call from the team's captain. 

She said she was confused and saddened by her decision to leave for Europe:

Quote Message: Everything she wanted had come true... she did not lack anything."

Everything she wanted had come true... she did not lack anything."

However, she said that Red Scorpion players did not receive a monthly salary, relying on voluntary contributions to meet their needs. 

ReCopyright: Re

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma looked jovial and upbeat when he arrived in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, for talks with President Robert Mugabe. 

Mr Zuma joked with officials, but remained tight-lipped about the report by South Africa's former anti-corruption chief Thuli Madonsela linking his family to possible corruption and demands by his critics that he should step down.

President Mugabe, 92, teased Mr Zuma, 74, about his latest political troubles, saying he was pleased to see him in one piece. 

The two leaders emerged from a brief closed-door meeting, with Mr Mugabe urging South Africans to increase their investments in Zimbabwe. He assured them that their businesses were safe. 

Zimbabwe has been struggling to attract investment because of a controversial law that requires foreign owned companies to cede majority shares to blacks. 

This was the inaugural meeting of the Zimbabwe-South Africa binational meeting which intends to strengthen ties between the two neighbours. 

One agreement was signed today, over cooperation in the aviation industry.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has said that he felt like "absconding" when he learned of the deep financial crisis facing Africa's largest economy after he took office last year. 

Speaking in the capital, Abuja, he said falling oil prices and mismanagement by the previous government had left him with a huge problem: 

Quote Message: Actually, I felt like absconding because 27 out of the 36 states of Nigeria could not pay salaries and we know the lower income groups depend on salaries to pay rent and manage their families.

Actually, I felt like absconding because 27 out of the 36 states of Nigeria could not pay salaries and we know the lower income groups depend on salaries to pay rent and manage their families.

Quote Message: I asked if there were any savings and I was told there were no savings. I asked what they did on agriculture, power, rails and roads. There was nothing.

I asked if there were any savings and I was told there were no savings. I asked what they did on agriculture, power, rails and roads. There was nothing.

Mr Buhari added that his government could not be blamed for the recession which has hit the West African state:

Quote Message: In the last one and half years of this administration, the economy has experienced some tough times, particularly with the decline in oil revenues, which has some harsh impacts on Nigerians at the grassroots.

In the last one and half years of this administration, the economy has experienced some tough times, particularly with the decline in oil revenues, which has some harsh impacts on Nigerians at the grassroots.

Quote Message: It is also important to note that the economic recession is not the making of this administration, but rather a consequence of bad management of the economy in the past couple of decades. Nor is recession limited to Nigeria; there are far, far worse cases than Nigeria.”

It is also important to note that the economic recession is not the making of this administration, but rather a consequence of bad management of the economy in the past couple of decades. Nor is recession limited to Nigeria; there are far, far worse cases than Nigeria.”

Mr Buhari won elections in March 2015, ending the rule of Goodluck Jonathan.

He promised to tackle corruption and boost the economy in a country battling high levels of poverty and unemployment. 

See earlier post for more details

AFPCopyright: AFP

Swiss authorities have confiscated 11 luxury vehicles and sports cars belonging to the son of Equatorial Guinea's president as part of a preliminary investigation into alleged corruption, AP news agency reports. 

Spokesman Henri Della Casa of the Geneva prosecutor's office said that the cars belonging to Teodorin Obiang Nguema, who serves as vice-president in the oil-rich West African state, were confiscated on Monday in the freight zone at Geneva's airport, the agency reports.

Swiss magazine L'Hebdo has obtained photos of the impounded fleet of supercars (see tweet below), which include a Bugatti Veyron, a Porsche 918 Spyder and several models of the Ferrari F12.

Mr Obiang has not yet commented on the seizure.

In 2012, France issued an arrest warrant for him and seized his Paris mansion and several of his luxury cars.

Equatorial Guinea is one of Africa's largest oil exporters, but most of its 740,000 inhabitants live in poverty.

Here are some more snaps of the operation in progress. Car-towing has never looked so good: 

EPACopyright: EPA

EPACopyright: EPA

EPACopyright: EPA

AFPCopyright: AFP

Burundi's government has threatened to withdraw its troops from the African Union force fighting militant Islamists in Somalia. 

Defence Minister Emmanuel Ntahomvukiye told parliament that the soldiers had not received their $800 (£640) monthly allowance from the European Union (EU) for 10 months. They are only receiving their low army wages. 

The EU stopped sending the troops' money to Burundi following a violent political crisis in the country. 

Burundi is the second largest contributor to the AU intervention force fighting al-Shabab in Somalia.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Moroccan-born author Leila Slimani has been awarded the Goncourt, a top literary prize in France and the Francophone world, the AFP news agency reports. 

She won the award for her thriller Chanson douce (Sweet song), a tale of a rogue nanny who murders the two children she is supposed to look after. 

The 35-year-old, who lives in France, is only the 12th woman to have won the Goncourt in its more than a century-long history.

Ms Slimani gets only 10 euros ($11; £9) in prize money, but her win guarantees a boost in sales of 450,000 copies or more, placing it instantly among the year's top bestsellers, AFP adds. 

The work of 81-year-old South African artist Esther Mahlangu is being featured at a major new exhibition at London's British Museum.

She uses chicken feathers to paint her traditional Ndebele designs, even painting BMWs as part of a campaign for the German car giant. 

The BBC's Nomsa Maseko visited the jet-setting octogenarian at her home in rural South Africa.

GFFCopyright: GFF

The Gambia Football Federation has written of its "deep shock and sympathy" at the news of the death of Fatim Jawara, the 19-year-old goalkeeper for the women's national team, who died while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

In a statement on its Facebook page, it said: 

Quote Message: Fatim was an integral member of the 2012 Women National Team to FIFA U-17 World Cup in Azerbaijan where she formed a core of Gambian team.

Fatim was an integral member of the 2012 Women National Team to FIFA U-17 World Cup in Azerbaijan where she formed a core of Gambian team.

Quote Message: [She was]also been a key member of the Red Scorpions FC where she plays as goal keeper for the side until recently when she decided to travel abroad.

[She was]also been a key member of the Red Scorpions FC where she plays as goal keeper for the side until recently when she decided to travel abroad.

Quote Message: The Gambia Football Federation once again wishes to register its regrets and sincere condolences to the family of Fatim and prays that her soul rests in peace."

The Gambia Football Federation once again wishes to register its regrets and sincere condolences to the family of Fatim and prays that her soul rests in peace."

Read the full BBC story

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Borussia Dortmund's key striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was dropped from the squad shortly before the kick-off of their Champions League match against Sporting on Wednesday for "internal reasons", the club said.

The in-form Gabonese forward, who has netted three times in three matches in the competition, had been expected to start against Sporting.

Read the full BBC Sport story 

The BBC's Dayo Yusuf was in the thick of it earlier when police fired tear gas and water cannon to break up an anti-corruption rally in the Kenyan capital Nairobi (see previous entry).  

Watch his report below: 

AFPCopyright: AFP

South African right-wing politician Clive Derby-Lewis, who tried to trigger a race-war in the dying days of apartheid by organising the assassination of Communist Party leader Chris Hani in 1993, has died at the age of 80. 

A BBC reporter in Johannesburg has tweeted confirmation of the news: 

Derby-Lewis was released on medical parole in June 2015, after serving 20 years in prison following his conviction for conspiracy to murder.

Derby-Lewis procured the gun used by Janusz Walus to kill Hani.

Hani, regarded as the most popular politician in South Africa after Nelson Mandela, was also head of the military wing of the African National Congress (ANC), the former liberation movement which is now in power.  

Zimbabwe's Higher Education Minister Jonathan Moyo has given a spelling lesson to one of his admirers on Twitter, as he waits to appear in court on charges of abusing his office and misappropriating government money.  

Otherwise, Mr Moyo has been retweeting messages of support 

Mr Moyo is currently allied with First Lady Grace Mugabe who is locked in a battle with Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa over who will succeed President Robert Mugabe, 92, when he dies. 

See earlier post for more details

AFCopyright: AF

The government in the Democratic Republic of Congo has freed on bail five activists who were arrested last month following a protest.

They are members of the Filimbi movement, a civil society coalition which campaigns for democratic change in the DR Congo.

The country is rocked by regular protests of opposition and civil society activists who are demanding that President Kabila step down at the end of his second and last term next month.

A deal brokered by the government and one faction of the opposition proposes that Kabila stay in power until April 2018 when the presidential election is organised.

The five Filimbi activists were arrested as they took part in a demonstration against the delay of the vote.

AFPCopyright: AFP

The Nigerian government says it received about 700,0000 applications for just 500 jobs at the national tax authorities. 

The staggering number of applicants comes as the country struggles with its worst economic crisis in years and is a sign of just how tough the job market is in Africa’s largest economy. 

For every position at the inland revenue service there were 1,400 applications. 

Of those bidding for employment, the chairman of the tax office said more than 2,000 had first class university degrees.

Officially, unemployment stands at 13% but many believe the true figure is higher. 

The plunge in global oil prices has pummelled Nigeria’s economy, triggering the first recession in more than a decade. 

For the country’s army of school and university graduates, jobs are hard to come by – and are often based on who you know rather than what you know. 

Growing youth unemployment is a ticking time bomb. 

Ii is a major factor fuelling the insurgency by Islamist group Boko Haram as well as the renewed militancy in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.

Read: Nigeria profile

French ArmyCopyright: French Army

Mali's drug enforcement authority has burned more than four tonnes of drugs in the largest operation of its kind, BBC Afrique reports. 

Among the drugs destroyed were 3.5 tonnes of cannabis, 500kg of psychoactive medication that was being sold on the black market and 400g of cocaine, it adds. 

Widespread trafficking in the Sahel region is thought to be a major source of funding for militant Islamist groups.

AFPCopyright: AFP

If Donald Trump emerges as the winner of next week's presidential election in the US, Nigeria's Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, says he will destroy his green card, pack up and leave the country. 

But the green card is a holy grail of sorts for many immigrants, and some risk death to get it.

Here are six ways people can boost their chances of obtaining the precious document: 

1. Be related to a US citizen, as a spouse, unmarried child under 21 or parent if the citizen is over 21
2.  Play and win the annual green card or diversity lottery, if you are from an eligible country. All African countries are eligible 
3.  Bring money. Invest at least $1m (£645,000), employ 10 people or expand an existing business by at least 40%
4.  Work in a favoured category of employment, such as broadcasting or medicine, or work for an international organization. Religious workers, including priests, rabbis, nuns, monks and deacons, are eligible. All can bring their families
5.  Be a nurse or physiotherapist (known in the US as a physical therapist) with a job offer from a hospital or medical centre
6.  Be adopted by US citizens, as long as you are under 16 years old. 

AFPCopyright: AFP

Ghana's electoral commission chairperson Charlotte Osei is speaking live now to the BBC Africa's Akwasi Sarpong. 

You can follow the interview and submit your own questions on the BBC Africa Facebook page.

AFPCopyright: AFP

A controversial businessman in South Africa, Ajay Gupta, has denied meeting Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas and offering him 600m rand ($44.6m; £36.2m) if he accepted the post of finance minister, Mr Gupta's lawyer has said.

Mr Jonas alleged that the businessman - who is close to President Jacob Zuma - offered to deposit the 600m rand in an "account of his choice" at a meeting last year, and asked him if he had "a bag which he could use to receive and carry 600,000 rand in cash immediately",  according to a report released by former anti-corruption chief Thuli Madonsela. 

Mr Gupta wanted him to take the post of finance minister and help the family achieve their "business ambitions", Mr Jonas is quoted in the report as saying. 

Former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor alleged that the Guptas had offered the public enterprise minister's post in 2010 in exchange for business favours. 

Ms Madonsela called for a judicial commission of inquiry to investigate these and other allegations against facing the Guptas and other businessmen, as well as Mr Zuma, government ministers and officials.

In a statement, the Guptas lawyer, Gert Van Der Merwe, said the family would welcome a judge-led inquiry: 

Quote Message: This will give us the opportunity to, once and for all, clear our name. We will need more time to study Ms Madonsela's fairly voluminous report. Our cursory reading of it shows the evidence gathered is riddled with errors and is subject to rebuttal...

This will give us the opportunity to, once and for all, clear our name. We will need more time to study Ms Madonsela's fairly voluminous report. Our cursory reading of it shows the evidence gathered is riddled with errors and is subject to rebuttal...

Quote Message: And Mr Ajay Gupta never met with Deputy Minister Mcebisi Jonas or Vytjie Mentor. My client now awaits the opportunity to present evidence and responses to the judicial commission of inquiry."

And Mr Ajay Gupta never met with Deputy Minister Mcebisi Jonas or Vytjie Mentor. My client now awaits the opportunity to present evidence and responses to the judicial commission of inquiry."

Read: Who are the Guptas? 

About 239 people are feared dead after two migrant boats got into trouble in the Mediterranean, according to a spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency (UNHRC): 

A spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is also reporting that figure: