Africa highlights: Zambia sets free baboon behind power cut, Guinea mosques hold day of prayer for Buhari

Highlife musician Paapa Yankson has died aged 73 at home this morning.

Ghanaian broadcaster Citi FM quotes the late star's eldest son as saying:

Quote Message: He died in the presence of our mother. She called me and told me to take heart."

He died in the presence of our mother. She called me and told me to take heart."

His son didn't specify to Citi FM the cause of death, but added “he was ill for some time".

Show Your Love is one of Paapa Yankson's biggest hits:

Fans have been paying tribute on social media:

This week in our satire series, the presidents ponder the origin of the superstition that bald men's heads are full of gold:

There has been a 600% increase in the number of African women trafficked to Europe via Libya over the past three years, the International Organisation for Migration says.

Carlotta Santarosa, who did the research, says very young girls are being targeted, mostly from Nigeria.

She explains to BBC Focus on Africa radio that many of the girls she encounters typically have no idea where they will end up, and are frequently exploited and forced into prostitution.

More highlights from BBC Focus on Africa radio

Nigerian singer Flavour N’abania has just posted a video on Instagram showing the filming of his latest song - a duet between him and Semah G Weifur a blind Liberian blind superfan:

Flavour met Semah when he surprised him in Liberia in March when he was performing one of Flavour's songs in front of a crowd:

They worked with each other after meeting and earlier this week Flavour released the duet with Semah:

For more on African music news, follow my show, C'est le Moment, on Facebook.

A baboon that tampered with electricity installations in Zambia and cut the power supply to about 50,000 customers has been released back into the wilderness.

The primate had trespassed into a power station in the tourist hub of Livingstone on Sunday, where he tampered with high voltage transformer cables used in the supply of electricity to Zambia's southern and western provinces.

The shock left the adult male baboon in an unconscious state for about 40 minutes.

His forearms, palms and back were severely burnt in the incident, so Zambian wildlife authorities took him into their care for treatment and observation.

After a full recovery the Chacma baboon is now back in the bush, says Ministry of Tourism and Arts Spokesperson Sakabilo Kalembwe.

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Angola's parliament has passed a law that will curb the powers of future presidents to sack army and police bosses, reports AFP news agency.

In the new law - which will only apply to the successors of the current head of state - army, police and intelligence services bosses will be protected in their posts for eight years, says AFP.

Angolans will go to the polls on 23 August to choose their new leader as President Jose Eduardo dos Santos will stand down after over thirty years in power.

But critics argue that Mr Dos Santos is trying to retain control of the military after he leaves office.

"It means that the president will not be able to remove them [army bosses] from their posts," Andre Mendes de Carvalho, a lawmaker with the opposition CASA-CE party, told AFP.

"A law like this shouldn't be passed just weeks before the end of a [presidential] term" he argued.

AFPCopyright: AFP

French media are reporting that Moroccan actor Loubna Abidar has been diagnosed with a "malignant throat illness".

Ms Abidar starred in the 2015 film Much Loved (Zine Li Fik), which depicted sex workers in Marrakesh. It was screened at that year's Cannes film festival but banned by Morocco's film censors.

The actor announced her sickness in a Facebook post on Wednesday written in Arabic, and asked for forgiveness from those who had been outraged by her involvement in Much Loved.

FacebookCopyright: Facebook

Ms Abidar ended the post saying:

Quote Message: If fate decides that I won't escape [this illness], I implore you to bury me in Morocco, my country. Let my coffin be covered with the Amazigh flag, and let roses be handed out during my funeral in every neighbourhood of Marrakech."

If fate decides that I won't escape [this illness], I implore you to bury me in Morocco, my country. Let my coffin be covered with the Amazigh flag, and let roses be handed out during my funeral in every neighbourhood of Marrakech."

Ms Abidar moved to France a few months after the release of Much Loved, after she was attacked in the Moroccan city of Casablanca.

Eleven people have died in a road traffic accident in southern Zambia.

The deceased, among them three children, were part of the 53 people travelling from the capital Lusaka to Choma, a town in Zambia's southern province.

Frederick Mubanga, the spokesperson for the country's road traffic agency said the accident happened on Thursday night when a truck carrying passengers lost control whilst descending on a hilly area.

"The truck was laden with assorted goods and items among them a hammer mill," he said.

"We call upon the travelling public to ensure that they use appropriate modes of transport for both goods and passengers. The crash could have been avoided had the travellers used a more safe and appropriate means of transport."

Some 39 other people are injured.

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Zanzibar has had its membership of the Confederation of African Football (Caf) rescinded just four months after it was accepted as a member.

Caf president Ahmad said Zanzibar, which is part of Tanzania, should never have been admitted as the body's 55th member in March.

"They were admitted without properly looking into the statutes which are crystal clear," said Ahmad.

"Caf cannot admit two different associations from one country."

Zanzibar is part of Tanzania but has operated independently as a footballing entity in regional competitions.

Read more on the BBC Sport website.

EPACopyright: EPA

An outspoken Kenyan opposition MP has been charged with hate speech in connection with next month’s general election.

A court, in the western Kenyan town of Homa Bay, said that Junet Mohamed made comments that amounted to ethnic incitement.

He was accused of suggesting that if opposition leader Raila Odinga wins the August polls, he will become the president of certain parts of the country, but not central Kenya, which is the political backyard of his rival, incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The MP denied the charges and was released on bail.

Mr Mohamed is not new to controversy, last year he was among eight legislators who were arrested and detained for four days over hate speech.

EPACopyright: EPA

Nigeria's air force accidentally attacked a refugee camp in January because the site was not marked in its maps, the military told the Reuters news agency.

Reuters adds that the investigation into the mistake found that the air force saw people gathering in the area on satellite footage and assumed they were Boko Haram Islamist militants.

An official told the BBC at the time that 115 people were killed by the air attack on the camp in Rann which the army mistook for a base for Boko Haram militants.

All humanitarian sites should be marked on military maps in future, the investigators said.

BBCCopyright: BBC

AFPCopyright: AFP

Worshippers in mosques across Guinea have been praying for the health of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.

Mr Buhari has been in London for treatment for over two months, his second long visit for health reasons this year.

The Nigerian leader had been due to visit Guinea since March, but his trip has been postponed.

As a result, the Guinean President Alpha Conde asked his country's mosques to dedicate a day of prayers to Mr Buhari's recovery.

The illness Mr Buhari is suffering from has not been made public.

Outspoken MP Makhosi Khoza of South Africa's ruling ANC party is defiant as her own colleagues threaten to charge her for ill discipline.

She has received death threats following her call for President Jacob Zuma to step down. The minister of police has since agreed to increase her protection.

Ms Khoza has said that she supports a secret ballot in the motion of no-confidence vote against President Zuma, due in parliament on 8 August.

Spokesman for the provincial ANC in KwaZulu Natal, Mdumiseni Ntuli, says Ms Khoza has crossed a line:

Quote Message: She’s ill-disciplined to the core. She’s a gifted demagogue. She’s gone out on a rampage... We have to act against people who are behaving like comrade Makhosi Khoza. We have a jurisdiction over her."

She’s ill-disciplined to the core. She’s a gifted demagogue. She’s gone out on a rampage... We have to act against people who are behaving like comrade Makhosi Khoza. We have a jurisdiction over her."

Earlier this week, Ms Khoza said in relation to the forthcoming vote on Mr Zuma's leadership:

Quote Message: In case I do not make it to 8 August 2017, you are haunting South Africa. Please Mr President, step down and respect those who elected you. South Africa no longer needs you."

In case I do not make it to 8 August 2017, you are haunting South Africa. Please Mr President, step down and respect those who elected you. South Africa no longer needs you."

Disciplinary action against Ms Khoza is expected to be taken on Tuesday next week.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Henna, kohl and gold jewellery are what you need to emulate this timeless look.

The BBC's Zeinab Badawi attends a wedding breakfast in northern Sudan to witness the enduring beauty techniques of an 8th Century Kushite princess.

The next episode of History of Africa airs on BBC World News at 15:10 GMT on Saturday July 22nd.

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Leicester City have rejected a bid from Roma for Algerian winger Riyad Mahrez, manager Craig Shakespeare has confirmed.

Mahrez, BBC African player of the year in 2016, has reportedly been valued at £50m.

He scored 10 goals for Leicester last season.

Read more on the BBC Sport website.

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An unidentified individual slipped into a coma after sustaining a head injury due to “stone-throwing" in a protest in the northern city of al-Hoceima, state-run Moroccan news agency Map reports.

In an earlier report, Map quoted local authorities saying 72 security personnel and 11 civilians were injured after some 300 to 400 activists hurled stones at the police forces, who responded with tear gas.

Two police officers were seriously injured and remain in hospital.

Facebook pages affiliated with the activist movement, known locally as Hirak, said the march was peaceful until the police forces attacked protesters.

Local authorities had banned the protest which was organised by activists who are say the northern province is marginalised.

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Data pointing to a supposed 100,000 spike in the number of road traffic accidents between 2015 and 2016 was false, Zimbabwe's National Statistical Agency (Zimstats) told The Zimbabwe Herald.

The Herald adds that Zimstat Director-General Mutasa Dzinotizei called for a complete retraction:

Quote Message: [Zimstat] wishes to apologise unreservedly to the whole nation for any inconveniences and anxiety occasioned by the publication of incorrect information... We are going to take corrective measures internally to deal with this issue."

[Zimstat] wishes to apologise unreservedly to the whole nation for any inconveniences and anxiety occasioned by the publication of incorrect information... We are going to take corrective measures internally to deal with this issue."

The true number of traffic accidents in 2016, Mr Dzinotizei says, is 46,681. That's compared to the figure of 159,490 published in error.

AFPCopyright: AFP

The rights group the Committee to Protect Journalists has called on the South Sudanese authorities to stop blocking four news websites and well-known blogs.

It says censoring news and intimidating journalists is becoming increasingly common in South Sudan.

The South Sudanese information minister Michael Makuei has confirmed the ban, which came into effect this week.

He accused the websites of disseminating stories that were subversive or hostile to the government.

The business world is watching with interest as e-commerce giant Jack Ma tours East Africa on a mission to inspire young entrepreneurs.

China's richest man Mr Ma made his fortune through online retailer Alibaba which is reported to account for 11% of all Chinese retail sales.

Many companies are trying to make it in Africa's small but growing e-commerce market. In Kenya, online retailers Jumia and Kilimall are currently among the biggest players.

But in a country like Kenya, where most people don't have addresses, delivering consumer goods bought online remains a challenge.

EPACopyright: EPA

Consumers are also somewhat wary of buying online, however this worry hasn't stopped them purchasing competitively-priced televisions and smartphones in increasing numbers.

Away from the large website and warehousing model, another emerging distribution trend is that of small businesses advertising online and striking deals with motorcycle riders to make their deliveries.