Africa highlights: Nigerian in '£5m wedding', Merkel warns of 'hopelessness' in Africa

AFPCopyright: AFP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for more investment in Africa, saying economic growth was vital to tackle the poverty that led to mass migration to Europe, AFP news agency reports.

She was speaking at a conference with 10 African leaders in Berlin held as part of Germany's presidency of the Group of 20 big economies.

AFP quoted Ms Merkel as saying:

Quote Message: If there is hopelessness in Africa, then its young people will of course say they will seek a new life elsewhere in the world.

If there is hopelessness in Africa, then its young people will of course say they will seek a new life elsewhere in the world.

Quote Message: If we work together with them for their countries, then we also create more security for ourselves."

If we work together with them for their countries, then we also create more security for ourselves."

A former special forces French soldier has been sentenced to a year in prison by a French court for molesting two girls aged three and five in Burkina Faso, reports AFP news agency.

The 40-year-old, identified only as Sebastien L., admitted to sexual contact with the girls after viewing images he had filmed with a GoPro camera at a hotel pool in Ouagadougou, it reports.

The mother of one of the girls alerted the French embassy after seeing the images on the camera that was left behind.

French authorities immediately suspended the soldier and sent him back to France.

Sebastien L. was sentenced to one year in prison followed by a one-year suspended sentence, AFP reports.

He is banned from any profession involving minors for five years, the Paris court said.

He was also ordered to pay several thousand euros in damages to the girls and their families.

The soldier, who was a member of a force fighting militant Islamists in Africa's Sahel region, said he could not explain his behaviour, blaming it on alcohol and the stress of his mission.

AFPCopyright: AFP

AFPCopyright: AFP

"Sometimes it can take until someone has finished their career to be fully appreciated."

This view was expressed by Michael Carrick earlier this year when he called for Wayne Rooney to be given more respect for his achievements at Manchester United.

He might as well been talking about Asamoah Gyan - a perfect example of a player whose contributions are chronically undervalued.

On Sunday the 31-year-old forward became the first player to score 50 goals for the Black Stars.

Gyan was on target as Ghana began their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign with a 5-0 victory over Ethiopia in Kumasi.

Half-a-century of international goals is a terrific stat in anyone's book and only five Africans have hit that milestone for their countries.

Gyan is now a full member of an exclusive club that includes Zambian legend Godfrey Chitalu, Egyptian great Hossam Hassan, Ivory Coast icon Didier Drogba and Cameroon goal machine Samuel Eto'o.

He is also Africa's all-time top scorer at the Fifa World Cup with six goals.

To put his accomplishments into context, Ghana's most revered footballer Abedi Pele Ayew, who played in five Africa Cup of Nations tournaments, retired from international football with 33 goals in 67 appearances.

At the age of 31 and in the twilight of his career, Gyan remains as indispensable as ever but also bafflingly under-appreciated.

Read more here

Mozambique's football players are receiving a hero's welcome as they return home after their win against Zambia on Saturday in the qualifiers for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

The BBC sport journalist Oluwashina Okeleji tweets the raucous welcome in Maputo:

Zambia lost against Mozambique who scored in the 89th minute after Germany-based Stanley Ratifo scored the winning goal.

Read more from the qualifiers on the BBC Sport website.

Nigeria's budget has been signed into law by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, reports the BBC's Stephanie Hegarty from the main city, Lagos.

President Muhammadu Buhari, who is being treated in the UK for an unspecified medical illness, had indicated that it was in the nation's economic interest for Mr Osinbajo to sign it, his office said in a statement.

Wedding guests are still sharing pictures from the incredibly lavish wedding of the son of Nigerian oil baroness Folorunsho Alakija, which happened over the weekend.

The UK-based Daily Mail newspaper reports that Folarin Alakija married Iranian Nazanin Jafarian Ghaissarifar in Bleinheim Palace in the UK.

The newspaper says that the wedding is estimated to have cost £5m ($6.3m). There was a 12ft (3.6m) cake, one million roses and a surprise performance by US singer Robin Thicke.

Wedding guests shared their favourite moments on Instagram:

One guest shared video of guests entering the dance floor to Nigerian musician Ycee's song Omo Alhaji:

While what looks like later in the night, bejewelled guests danced to Montell Jordan's This Is How We Do It:

The floral designers posted on Instragram that they used "10,000 hydrangea and counting":

Folorunsho Alakija is estimated to be worth $1.61bn by Forbes magazine. She made most of her money in the oil industry and is ranked number 18 in Forbes' list of African billionaires.

Authorities in Nigeria’s south-western states have declared today a public holiday to honour the presumed winner of the 12 June 1993 presidential election, Moshood Abiola.

The election was annulled by Gen ani Abacha and his military regime, citing irregularities. But many people saw it as the most free and fair election ever conducted in the West African state.

The controversial annulment of the election sparked riots across the country by pro-democracy activists.

Mr Abiola died in jail believing he was Nigeria's rightful ruler.

Many Nigerians believe 12 June has become one of the most significant dates in Nigeria’s political history.

BBC Witness interviewed Fred Eno, an aide to Mr Abiola:

A 17-year-old girl in South Africa has appeared in court on a murder charge after allegedly killing a man who tried to rape her.

Her case was remanded following her brief appearance at the Lenyenye magistrates court in northern Limpopo province.

She was not asked to plead.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Mozambique has lost some 9,000 - or nearly 48% - of its elephant population to poaching in the last five years, wildlife protection director Lopes Pereira has said.

“We’ve been losing an average of seven elephants a day and two rhino horns due to poaching activities," he added.

The problem was "serious", and about 700 rangers had been deployed to conservation areas to protect the animals, Mr Pereira said.

See earlier post for more details

Members of London’s Somali Bravanese community broke their Ramadan fast in a synagogue on Sunday night.

The Jewish community invited them to use their synagogue after the community centre used by the Bravanese as a place of worship was burned down by an arsonist in 2013 in an alleged Islamophobic attack following the killing of the British soldier Lee Rigby.

The Bravanese come from a port town called Brava on the southeastern coast of Somalia but their heritage is a mix of Yemeni, Omani, Portuguese and Persian.

They were badly persecuted during Somalia’s civil war and many fled the country in the early 1990s.

BBCCopyright: BBC

BBCCopyright: BBC

BBCCopyright: BBC

AFPCopyright: AFP

South Africa's public broadcaster, the SABC, has sacked its controversial Chief Operations Officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng.

SABC interim board chairwoman Khanyisile Kweyama confirmed his dismissal at a media briefing.

“Mr Motsoeneng’s dismissal has been accepted by the board,” she said.

The decision came after an independent disciplinary panel found him guilty on all charges, including bringing the SABC into disrepute by criticising it for scrapping the 90% local music policy which he had implemented.

Mr Motsoeneng has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing while his lawyer was quoted by SABC as saying he had not been informed of the verdict.

On the financial state of the Africa’s largest broadcaster, Ms Kweyama said:

“The financial situation is dire. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be asking for a bail out. We are in the red. We are looking at our balances every day, but do still need to be rescued. Sometimes we have to rob Peter to pay Paul.”

Mr Motsoeneng was also accused of misrepresenting his qualifications, purged staff who stood for editorial independence and massively increased his salary while in charge of operations at Auckland Park, the SABC headquarters which is referred to by local media as “Fawlty Towers”.

Read: Is South Africa’s public broadcaster using apartheid tactics?

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

When I was pulled aside for a pat down at Cairo airport a uniformed woman found a lump in my right-hand jeans pocket. It was small and bullet-shaped.

"What's that?" She asked

"It's for the monthly period, the monthly bleeding," I said.

"How do you use it?" she replied.

I asked the female guard if she'd like to see the instructions from the box of tampons I had in my suitcase, and she looked askance, saying "You've got more?! We'll have to put them through the scanner by themselves."

She thrust my box of tampons into the male guard's hands crying, "Look at these things she's got! I think we should put them back through." He rifled through them and nodded his approval. As the tampons were re-examined in the suitcase X-ray machine, the female guard pored over the instructions.

She handed me back the box, which had now cleared security, and leaned in close. She asked conspiratorially, "Can you get these in Egypt?"

Read more on the BBC News website

Kenya's electoral commission will use only one voter register to authenticate details of voters in the 8 August election, a top official at the electoral commission has told the BBC.

Dr Roselyn Akombe said that the commission was working to fix some of the anomalies that had been found after a review by audit firm KPMG, including a revelation that more than a million names in the register are of people who are deceased.

She said that the audit had exposed poor data collection:

Quote Message: It's an indictment of our institutions and the ability of our institutions that are mandated to do the registration of deaths to be able to do a good job"

It's an indictment of our institutions and the ability of our institutions that are mandated to do the registration of deaths to be able to do a good job"

She said that work had already begun to fix the problems that were exposed:

Quote Message: We are working day and night. We received the detailed report from KPMG. The chairman of the commission put together a team that is working 24 hours ... to look through the data. We have collected all the registration forms from each of the 290 constituencies.

We are working day and night. We received the detailed report from KPMG. The chairman of the commission put together a team that is working 24 hours ... to look through the data. We have collected all the registration forms from each of the 290 constituencies.

Quote Message: We have called all our constituency returning officers and they are sitting at ... offices going through each form to ensure we correct as much of the data as possible. "

We have called all our constituency returning officers and they are sitting at ... offices going through each form to ensure we correct as much of the data as possible. "

In 2013, the integrity of the voters' register was questioned because the commission used multiple registers; leading opposition parties to accuse the electoral commission of aiding vote rigging.

Dr Akombe was speaking to our colleague Dickens Olewe who hosts a weekly podcast, Kenya Election Watch, which goes on out on the Africa Today podcast every Wednesday.

They also discussed the commission's reaction to a call by civil society groups to ban politicians with integrity issues and a court case challenging the electoral commission's plan to announce the final presidential results at the national tallying centre instead of constituency.

BBCCopyright: BBC

A presidential commission says Tanzania has lost 188 trillion Tanzanian shillings ($84bn) over 19 years due to mining companies under-reporting the amount of minerals they have been exporting.

This is denied by mining companies.

In a live televised ceremony at state house in Dar es Salaam, President John Magufuli ordered the minister for legal affairs to review all mining laws.

The commission also says Canadian mining firm Acacia Mining - the largest gold miner in the country - never registered in Tanzania and therefore is operating illegally.

The comes a few days after another government report which said containers at the port were carrying up to 15.5 tonnes of gold instead of the 1.1 tonnes which was declared by Acacia mines.

Acacia Mining denied this, saying the findings contained “significant discrepancies”.

The previous report led to the sacking of the minerals minister and other top officials in the mineral sector.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Seven smugglers involved in the illegal ivory trade from Uganda to Singapore have been arrested following an 18-month investigation by African and Asian law enforcement agencies, Reuters has reported counter-trafficking organisation Freeland as saying.

A top Kenyan customs officer and shipping agents were among those arrested, Freeland added.

Tens of thousands of elephants are killed for their tusks every year, causing their numbers to drop by up to 30% in Africa over the last decade.

In a statement, Freeland chairman Kraisak Choonhavan said:

Quote Message: We hope the investigation will now continue in Asia to find the big buyers who are sponsoring the killing of elephants. Africa is now ahead of Asia in going beyond seizures and making meaningful arrests of wildlife criminals."

We hope the investigation will now continue in Asia to find the big buyers who are sponsoring the killing of elephants. Africa is now ahead of Asia in going beyond seizures and making meaningful arrests of wildlife criminals."

Read: Elephants and the ivory trade

Aid to the Church in NeedCopyright: Aid to the Church in Need

A leading figure in the Catholic church in Nigeria has told Africa Live Pope Francis was very upset with the clergy in the diocese of Ahiara in the south-east for not accepting the appointment of a bishop (see earlier story).

The president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama, was at the meeting in Rome where the Pope issued his 30-day ultimatum for the clergy to pledge obedience or face suspension.

He said:

Quote Message: I could see the pain in the Pope's eyes. He was upset that his children were going in a different direction."

I could see the pain in the Pope's eyes. He was upset that his children were going in a different direction."

Archbishop Kaigama said that obedience to the Pope was central to the way the Catholic church worked:

Quote Message: The Catholic church has had a system operating for hundreds of years and that is not going to change now because they want someone from their area.

The Catholic church has had a system operating for hundreds of years and that is not going to change now because they want someone from their area.

Quote Message: We are shocked, surprised and disappointed that they have rejected an appointment by the Holy Father."

We are shocked, surprised and disappointed that they have rejected an appointment by the Holy Father."

Archbishop Kaigama also said that he had been trying to persuade the clergy in Ahiara to accept the bishop for the past four-and-a-half years but to no avail.

He is now praying for God's intervention to help solve the problem, he said.

See earlier post for more details

AFpCopyright: AFp

A 17-year-old girl, who handed herself in to South African police, is expected to appear in court on a murder charge after killing a man who allegedly tried to rape her.

She stabbed the 21-year-old man, after overpowering him during a struggle in a village in northern Limpopo province, police say.

The suspect, who is a minor under South African law and cannot be named, would be assigned a social worker and possibly a trauma counsellor to assist with the case, according to the police.

"She was visibly distraught when she arrived at the police station and will receive the necessary care given in such cases," police colonel Moatshe Ngoepe told the BBC.

The girl is expected to tell the court that she acted in self-defence.

See earlier post for more details

Read: Will I be next? South African women ask

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Ethiopia has denied the warning by the UN that 7.8 million people will run out of emergency food aid by the end of this month.

The Commissioner for Disaster Risk Management Mitiku Kassa told the BBC that far fewer people will be affected:

"It's true that in some areas food will run out by the end of the month but this will only affect around 1.7 million people.

"We expect the donor community to step in and fill that gap and we are hopeful. But if they fail to do that we will have to use some of our development budget to provide emergency assistance to our people," he said.

Pope Francis' ultimatum to Nigerian priests to pledge obedience to him and accept a bishop appointed for their diocese or risk being suspended is unusual, given that Popes normally defer to local governance in the form of national cardinals.

However, Pope Francis has recently intervened in another area - that of Knights of Malta Chivalric Order.

Pope Francis is generally seeking a more compassionate approach to ministry, but many have made the mistake of assuming that this suggests he is theologically liberal. He is not.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Read: Pope Francis in profile