Africa highlights: Germany in Tunisia deportations deal, Guinea finds '47,000 fake students'

This week's satirical programme What's Up Africa looks into anti-foreigner attacks in South Africa and the internet shutdown in English-speaking regions of Cameroon. 

Ikenna Azuike also asks why a Tanzanian minister has not made a gay list public?

SPLCopyright: SPL

A French teenager's sickle cell disease has been reversed using a pioneering treatment to change his DNA.

The world-first procedure at Necker Children's Hospital in Paris offers hope to millions of people with the blood disorder, who are mostly in Africa.

Sia Evelyn Nyandemo, originally from Sierra Leone, runs a campaign group in the UK to support sickle cell sufferers. 

She spoke to the BBC's Newsday programme about caring for her daughter who has the disease:

Quote Message: Sickle Cell has taken the lives of two of our children.

Sickle Cell has taken the lives of two of our children.

Quote Message: We have lost two girls.

We have lost two girls.

Quote Message: One of our daughters, the eldest, is living with it. And that has impacted us so much that we live with fear because of the outcome of having sickle cell.

One of our daughters, the eldest, is living with it. And that has impacted us so much that we live with fear because of the outcome of having sickle cell.

Quote Message: We know that some people will live up to a certain age but every now and then she is in crisis and we know when the child is in crisis it affects her organs."

We know that some people will live up to a certain age but every now and then she is in crisis and we know when the child is in crisis it affects her organs."

You can also read Ms Nyandemo's reaction to the new treatment here .

AFPCopyright: AFP

Former rebel commander Afonso Dhlakama, who leads Mozambique’s main opposition party Renamo, has announced a two-month extension to a truce between his troops and the government to give more time for peace talks.

Mr Dhlakama returned to the bush to take up arms after elections in 2014 as his party wants direct rule over the six provinces where it won a majority of the vote.

The talks, which are being attended by foreign diplomats, are intended to address areas such as the decentralisation of power, reducing the powers of the president and military reform.

Renamo wants the integration of its men in the army and the police, including in leadership positions.

Mr Dhlakama told journalists in a teleconference from his Renamo bush base, somewhere in the central district of Gorongosa, that he remained in regular phone contact with President Filipe Nyusi.

He said:

Quote Message: I think peace is sacred. We intend to achieve true peace."

I think peace is sacred. We intend to achieve true peace."

Find out why Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou, is the capital of African cinema:

And the BBC Africa's Lamine Konkobo has been taking a look at six things that make this year's festival special - one of which, he says, is the film The African Storm -  about an African president who nationalises businesses run by racist, cynical Western executives. 

Read more: Six things about Fespaco

A new battle for major oil ports in Libya has broken out. 

A militia known as the Benghazi Defence Brigades has launched an attack on the major oil terminals of al-Sidra and Ras Lanuf.

Their offensive has been met by air strikes from forces led by the renegade military commander, Khalifa Haftar, who holds sway in eastern Libya. 

His force, known as the Eastern Libyan Army, has been in control of the ports since last September, but it has faced several attempts by its opponents to seize them.   

AFPCopyright: AFP

AFPCopyright: AFP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi have agreed a deal under which rejected asylum seekers will be repatriated to Tunisia much faster and Germany will provide 250m euros ($264m; £215m) in aid for job training and support for small businesses.

The agreement, announced during Mrs Merkel's visit to Tunis, has followed tensions over the case of the Tunisian identified as having carried out the Berlin Christmas market attack last year.

The attacker, Anis Amri, who was later shot dead by police, had been facing deportation from Germany for months but remained there because of a delay in receiving paperwork from Tunisia confirming his identity.

Under today's deal, Tunisia has agreed to resolve the identities of about 1,500 Tunisian asylum seekers in Germany within 30 days. Correspondents say the expectation is that they would then be deported.

The 30-day period will also apply for future asylum seekers, and papers needed for deportation would be issued by Tunisia within a week.

Mrs Merkel suggested Germany would help Tunisia upgrade its administrative systems to enable these processes.

Referring to the aid, Mrs Merkel said: 

Quote Message: The funds are for rural development, small and medium enterprises, but mainly for youths... who especially need job training and employment opportunities."

The funds are for rural development, small and medium enterprises, but mainly for youths... who especially need job training and employment opportunities."

APCopyright: AP

Two Zimbabwean journalists were arrested this morning over a newspaper report that described President Robert Mugabe as being "in bad shape" when he flew to Singapore for what the presidency said was a scheduled medical check-up.

The editor of the private NewsDay paper, Wisdom Mudzungairi, and the journalist who wrote the article, Richard Chidza, have been released from custody and must appear in court on Saturday.

Their lawyer Obey Shava said they had been charged with undermining and insulting the office of the president.

The article, entitled “ Mugabe in fresh health scare ”, quoted sources saying the president flew out of the country on a chartered flight at 02:00 local time on Wednesday morning.

Mr Mugabe turned 93 last month and has been in power since 1980.

According to the Associated Press news agency, people convicted of insulting Mr Mugabe can face jail time, though some cases have been thrown out.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Police in the Democratic Republic of Congo have raided the home in the capital, Kinshasa, of self-styled spiritual leader Ne Mwanda Nsemi, who is blamed for inciting violence in the Kongo Central region where his sect is popular.

Mr Mwanda Nsemi, who is also an MP, is the founder of the Bundu Dia Mayala political party, which had its origins in his banned separatist sect that wanted to revive the pre-colonial Kongo kingdom.

Police spokesman Col Pierrot Mwanamputu Empung told DR Congo news portal  Actualite.cd :

Quote Message: Police operations are under way at the residence of Hon Mwanda Nsemi to free men and women taken hostage in order to serve as human shields to prevent any search from being carried out."

Police operations are under way at the residence of Hon Mwanda Nsemi to free men and women taken hostage in order to serve as human shields to prevent any search from being carried out."

Police have laid siege to the lawmaker's home in the Ngaliema suburb of Kinshasa since 13 February.

Hundreds of his supporters are said to be keeping vigil to prevent his arrest.

Mr Mwanda Nsemi's supporters say they do not have access to food, water or electricity because of the police blockade.

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

BBC Africa's sport presenter has a statement from the International Olympic Committee following newspaper allegations about improper behaviour leading up to the selection of Rio de Janeiro as host of the 2016 Olympics.

The IOC says it will investigate allegations made against former Namibian sprinter and IOC member Frankie Fredericks.

The allegations, published in French newspaper Le Monde, also named Papa Diack, the Senegalese marketing consultant and son of former sports adminstrator Lamine Diack who is banned for life from athletics for alleged corruption.

See earlier post .

AFPCopyright: AFP

A Tunisian zoo is to close temporarily after visitors stoned a crocodile to death on Wednesday, the AFP news agency quotes the environment ministry as saying.

The public has been up in arms after the municipality posted gory pictures of the reptile, which it said had died of an internal haemorrhage after being stoned by visitors at Belvedere Zoo, AFP reports.

The zoo is closing on Monday to allow for maintenance work and to set up measures to manage visitors entering and exiting.

It had also been decided to "increase the number of guards and deploy three environmental police agents" at the zoo, the environment minister reportedly said.

According to AFP, Belvedere Zoo has been in need of maintenance for years, and social media users have been calling on the authorities to save its lions from cramped living conditions and stone-throwing visitors.

AFPCopyright: AFP

The latest survey of Africa's top 100 brands has just been released:

AFPCopyright: AFP

Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency has filed new charges in the case against the oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and ENI.

The corruption allegations relate to the $1.3bn (£1bn) purchase of a Nigerian oil block in 2011.

These are the latest charges in a complex investigation spanning several countries.

Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commision (EFCC) has accused the companies of a conspiracy to commit a felony and official corruption.

Royal Dutch Shell declined to comment.

The Italian firm ENI said in a statement that it had not been informed of the latest charges but reaffirmed the “correctness of its conduct” when purchasing the oil block - considered one of Nigeria’s best energy prospects.

The main accusation is that the two companies knew when they paid money to the Nigerian government that the cash would then be funnelled to individuals essentially as bribes.

Both firms have previously denied the accusations, stating they simply made the payment to the government and were unaware of any other arrangements.

Recently, the Nigerian government seized the block - ordering a halt to operations pending the outcome of the corruption cases.

Both Royal Dutch Shell and ENI are appealing against the decision.

The authorities in Guinea have said there are more than 47,000 fake students registered in the country's universities. 

The figures were published on Thursday by the Minister of Higher Education after a process of biometric registration, which weeded out non-existent students.

The Guinean authorities grant subsidies to universities based on their number of students. 

Correspondents say most public universities are full and the subsidies are intended to stimulate expansion at private institutions. 

However, some of the private universities responded by faking student registrations in order to obtain larger subsidies.

There was no immediate word on how the government would respond to the revelations.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Tanzania’s President John Magufuli has ordered the confiscation of the passport of an Indian contractor who has failed to finish a water project on time.

The contractor, Rajendra Kumar of Alliance Private Limited, was supposed to complete it in March 2015.

But according to the water minister, he failed to do so because he ran out of cash.

The 11.6m euro ($12.2m, £9.9m) project is to dig 10 wells for the benefit of about 82,000 residents in the south-eastern Lindi region                       

The government is funding the wells with a loan from the European Union and German KfW Development Bank.

Mr Magufuli looked visibly upset when he saw that the project was not finished when he visited Lindi earlier today:

Quote Message: We cannot allow the people of Lindi to continue with water shortages.

We cannot allow the people of Lindi to continue with water shortages.

Quote Message: The project has been delayed for two years because the contractor has decided to take the money to India."

The project has been delayed for two years because the contractor has decided to take the money to India."

He also hit out at officials from the water ministry as with 90% of the loan spent, the wells are far from completion.

Quote Message: “And you who are supposed to supervise him are not doing anything. Why didn’t you fire him all this time?"

“And you who are supposed to supervise him are not doing anything. Why didn’t you fire him all this time?"

The president said if the project was not completed in four months, the project supervisors would be punished.

The contractor has not responded to the president's comments.

Nicknamed "The Bulldozer", Mr Magufuli is seen as a no-nonsense politician, who has cracked down on corruption and mismanagement since coming to office in 2015.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Mitsubishi Motors is recalling more than 7,000 Pajero vehicles in South Africa, built between 2007 and 2016. 

The company said the move was part of a global preventative recall over driver airbags manufactured by Takata Corporation.

Mitsubishi is one of several vehicle manufacturers affected by the potentially defective airbag inflators. 

Takata Corporation last year admitted more of its air bags were defective - at least 11 deaths in the United States have been linked to airbags that split.  

Mitsubishi said airbags on South African Pajeros concerned would be replaced at no cost to vehicle owners.

"The inspection and replacement procedure will take approximately one hour," it said.

The company is currently contacting owners to arrange and co-ordinate the timing of replacements.

Pajero owners can check on this website whether their vehicles are affected.

Ford also recently announced a recall in South Africa for its Kuga range after owners complained about engines catching fire.

South Africa's National Consumer Commission (NCC) has launched a probe into the local unit of Ford over the incidents.

AFPCopyright: AFP

French investigators think the vote to give Rio the 2016 Olympic Games may have been rigged with the help of Senegalese marketing consultant Papa Massata Diack, a paper in France is reporting.

Papa Diack is the son of former International Olympic Committee (IOC) member and president of athletics' governing body Lamine Diack, who is currently being held in France on corruption charges.

According to French newspaper Le Monde , a Brazilian businessman paid $1.5m (£1.2m) to Papa Diack days before the host city was chosen.

"The French justice suspects that this money may have been used to influence the votes," the paper says.

Rio 2016 organisers say the vote was "clean".

The Brazilian city won the right to host the Games by 66 votes to 32.

The newspaper says investigators have established that a holding company belonging to the Brazilian businessman paid the money to a company set up by Papa Diack. 

Mr Diack is banned for life from athletics for alleged corruption, and  Interpol has issued a "red notice" for his arrest.

He is accused of blackmailing athletes who failed drug tests, but has denied any wrongdoing and Senegal has refused to extradite him to France.

Read the BBC Sport story for more .

Floods in southern Africa have also been affecting the South Africa-Botswana border area. 

South Africa's home affairs office says it has closed several ports of entry along the border because of floods.

One of Africa’s most notorious poachers, known as “Shetani” - which means “the Devil” in Swahili, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison in Tanzania.

Boniface Matthew Mariango, who had evaded arrest many times, was captured in October 2015.

A journalist following the case in Tanzania’s capital, Dodoma, says the notorious poacher was found with 118 tusks worth more than $860,000 (£703,000). He was the subject of a recent Neflix documentary called The Ivory Game produced by actor and conservationist Leonardo DiCaprio: 

The PAMS Foundation in Tanzania, which helped bring the case, shared this post on its Facebook page: