Africa Today

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, three West African countries in the Sahel region which are ruled by military juntas, have signed a defence pact to come to aid each other in case of any rebellion or external aggression.BBC Africa Eye investigation team gets a look inside a xenophobic vigilante group in South Africa.And how cheetahs from Namibia are now faring in India.

The crisis in Mali continues to deepen. An alliance of Tuareg rebels called the CMA, which had signed an agreement with the government, has announced that it is resuming hostilities. That comes after Mali’s military government ordered the expulsion of French troops and UN peacekeepers from the country, with a jihadist insurgency still proving impossible to overcome.Could the deaths of thousands of people in Derna, Libya and the extensive damage to property and infrastructure been mitigated? We hear the views of a construction engineerPlus, how the self-declared Republic of Somaliland is using an app to boost literacy skills.

There are scenes of utter devastation in Libya's eastern city of Derna, after a powerful storm caused two dams to burst, sweeping away large parts of the port city. Some aid has arrived, but with the country struggling under divided political administrations in the east and west, Libya's Prime Minister in Tripoli said they would only accept "necessary aid". We look at how the catastrophic impact of Storm Daniel has brought the country’s fragile and complex political situation to the fore.The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has lifted a year-long visa ban imposed on Nigerian travellers. Flights were stopped last year after Dubai’s Emirates airline suspended operations in Nigeria as it was angered by moves preventing it from transferring its revenues overseas because of a foreign currency crisis.Also…Conservationists in Egypt oppose the government’s plan to build a highway through Cairo’s centuries old cemetery The City of the Dead.

We look at why Morocco’s government has been selective over offers of humanitarian assistance from abroad, after the devastating earthquake which has killed more than 2,800 people.Four East African countries have reportedly incurred an estimated $30 billion in losses between 2021 and 2023, due to extreme droughts and devastating floods.Plus we meet the Queen of African horror writing, who is scared of ghosts.

The number of people killed in Friday's powerful earthquake in Morocco has risen to more than two thousand people, the interior ministry says. With a magnitude of 6.8, the earthquake which hit central Morocco is the biggest the area has seen since before 1900. We explore the impact of military rule in Guinea two years after the fall of former President Alpha Conde.And we hear how a British-Nigerian performance artist is using opera to reconnect with her Pidgin-speaking roots.

We go to Gabon to get the latest on the situation in the country, after the military forced President Ali Bongo from power. The transitional authorities have held talks with dissidents jailed under Ali Bongo, and have freed some political prisoners.An update from Kadugli in Sudan, an area that has been experiencing heavy fighting in recent weeks. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced there, as the country as a whole faces up to a dire humanitarian situation. Plus should Africa's hopes for the rugby World Cup rest on the current champions - South Africa?

Nigeria's Appeal Court has rejected challenges to Bola Tinubu's narrow victory in February's presidential election. As election petitions become more common in Africa we ask how fair are election challenges. Between July and October 2022, about 70 children in the west African nation of The Gambia died because of suspected kidney ailments allegedly caused by consumption of cough syrup made in India. A year on since the first deaths in the Gambia, we hear from the families about their shared grief and their struggle for justice.And meet young climate change activists on the frontline pushing for more action beyond pledges following the Africa Climate Summit that took place in Nairobi.

Taiwan's president is visiting Eswatini. It's to mark 55 years of cooperation with her country's last African ally. Has Taipei's influence on the continent waned ? We examine the recent spate of coups in former French colonies in Africa.Plus do we really need vultures? Fears that the scavengers are facing extinction

The government in the Democratic Republic of Congo has said that at least 43 people were killed when soldiers broke up a demonstration against UN peacekeepers in the eastern city of Goma on Wednesday. We ask what's behind the chronic instability in the DRC? Around 80 percent of all farms in Africa are tilled by smallholder farmers. They produce most of the food we eat on the continent - and yet they get very little recognition for what they do. We hear from Wangari Kuria, the founder of Farmer on Fire. She is challenging the leaders currently meeting in Nairobi at the first Africa Climate Summit.And we do a deep dive on the Bongos; the family that has held power in Gabon since 1967.

As the first ever Africa Climate Summit begins in Nairobi, we hear from a community suing the Kenyan government over climate damage.We look at the serious danger to human life posed by air pollution in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos.Plus, can Kenyan police help bring stability to Haiti?

Many buildings in the centre of the South African city of Johannesburg, where a horrific fire has killed more than 70 people, are deemed unfit to live in. Yet these old blocks, abandoned by their owners or the city authorities, are full of families often paying rent to criminal gangs who run them. The buildings, which lack running water, toilets or a legal electricity connection, are then said to have been "hijacked". We find out what this means. A private plane found with more than $5m in cash, fake gold, guns and ammunition on board, is at the centre of a deepening investigation in the Zambian capital, Lusaka. The African Climate Summit will take place in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi next week, featuring speakers from Kenya’s government, the African Union and the United Nations. Will the event be just hot air or will it provide a solid plan of action?

At least 15 truck drivers stuck on the Egypt-Sudan border have recently died from heat stroke.  Hundreds have been stuck at the border due to bureaucratic red tape causing congestion What are the medium and long term implications of the coup in Gabon?Plus we meet Koyo Kouoh, the woman in charge of the biggest museum of contemporary art in Africa.

Senior army officers in Gabon announced a coup shortly after President Ali Bongo's re-election was announced. One of the BBC's team spends 24 hours with Tunisia's coast guard as it finds people desperate to cross continents. How to win an argument? We debate the pros and cons of the art of debating with high school students.

Sierra Leone is grappling with a serious substance crisis. A cheap and illegal synthetic drug known as Kush that is wreaking havoc among the youth.Around 500 schools have been shutdown in Cameroon. Will they open in time for the new school year? Plus what's life like as the great granddaughter of Emperor Haile Selassie?

The runner-up in Zimbabwe's presidential election, Nelson Chamisa, has accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa of carrying out an electoral coup. Former Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria chairperson Attahiru Muhammadu Jega is leading the Carter Center's observer mission to Zimbabwe. He talks about his role as electoral observer. It has been more than a month since the military in Niger overthrew former President Bazoum. Burkina Faso and Mali have also been living under military governments that came to power through coups. In today's episode of Focus on Africa we ask have the juntas there delivered on their promises and what has life been like for the ordinary citizens ? We speak with Ghanaian actor Majid Michel about how he coped with losing his voice after a car accident in 2015 and the secret to his longevity in the industry.

The BRICS bloc of developing nations agreed this week s to admit six new countries. The countries Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - are set to join in January. Can this counter Western dominance?As thousands of UN troops speed up their pull out of Mali, despite a deteriorating security situation. We talk to BBC Arabic’s Feras Kilani the first journalist to travel to Northern Mali since French forces ended their military operation there two years agoPlus why are more airlines adopting the use of sustainable aviation fuel? We hear from an expert based in Kenya

Wagner boss Prigozhin is presumed dead after Russia plane crash. In his last address, he said the Wagner group is making Africa "more free". His presumed death received little media attention or official reactions in Mali and the Central African Republic where thousands of mercenaries are active. So in today's episode, we ask what would be the impact of Prigozhin’s presumed death on Wagner in Africa.Also, in Tunisia dozens of environment activists are appealing harsh prison sentences handed down after protesting against a dangerous landfill site.And how is climate change affecting livestock? More than one billion cows around the world could experience heat stress by the end of the century.

Haiti has been rocked by deadly violence since the assassination of the country’s President Jovenel Moïse two years ago. A Kenyan delegation has held meetings with Haitian police officials, weeks after the Kenyan government offered to lead a multinational team in tackling the country’s extreme gang violence. We hear from a local businessman on what life is like for ordinary citizens.In the aftermath of the coup in Niger, false claims and misinformation are being shared online, adding to the tensions over the country's future. We look into some of the widely shared claims.How can an entire nation's history be conserved? An ambitious initiative in Nigeria is currently in progress, involving the digitisation of all newspapers published since the country's independence in 1960.

Saudi border guards are accused of the mass killing of migrants along the Yemeni border in a new report by Human Rights Watch. The report says hundreds of people, many of them Ethiopians who cross war-torn Yemen to reach Saudi Arabia, have been shot dead. We delve into the intricacies of coup attempts, as David Otto, Director for Geneva Centre for Africa Security & Strategic Studies shares insight on the crucial factors that determine their success or failure.Plus we speak to Nigerian music producer and artist Eclipse Nkasi about the ethical way of using AI to produce music.

South Africa to host Brics summit but Russia’s President Putin will only join by video link. On the agenda global economic and security matters and the creation of new financial institutions.More than 1,400 people starve to death in Ethiopia's northern Tigray since food aid was suspended because of theftAnd Ghanaian immunologist Yaw Bediako on how to expand research and keep African scientists on the continent.