Africa Today

Kenya says it's confident the deployment of hundreds of its police to Haiti by January will end gang warfare in the country. Last year Haiti's government appealed for help because of spiralling gang violence. Kenya's Foreign Minister Alfred Mutua says it will be an intervention force to disarm what he called the "thugs and the gangs". So does Kenya really have the capabilities to help end Haiti's violence and how do Kenyan's feel about this deployment? Also, why Zambia's former President Edgar Lungu has been warned against jogging in public. The police have described his weekly workouts as "political activism". We hear from Mr Lungu's lawyer and get analysis on the wider political situation in the country.And how AI technology in South Africa is helping with immediate health concerns.

Fighting has reportedly erupted in Ethiopia’s turbulent Amhara region. Reports say local militia fighters clashed with the military, over government plans to disarm local forces. What's behind this escalation, and what does it portend for the future of Africa's second most populous country?We look into why the Egyptian government has ordered a three-month ban on onion exports.And why young women admired  Zoleka Mandela, granddaughter of Nelson Mandela, who has died of cancer aged 43.

France says it will withdraw its troops and ambassador from Niger. The military junta which seized power in July has welcomed the move. But what impact will this have on Niger’s ability to deal with insurgency?Also, in Ghana protestors demand their right to protest amid the arrest of several people by police. For three days demonstrators have taken to the streets to protest against the high cost of living.And we speak to Zawadi Ya Mungu and Kerolin Govender two South African singers from different backgrounds who are collaborating to heal racial divides.

Mohbad: There's been controversy and outrage following mysterious death and hasty burial of Nigerian Afrobeats rapper Mohbad. Authorities have now carried out an exhumation of his body for autopsy following protests on streets and social mediaHow is climate change affecting Africa's pastoralists. We hear from a representative attending Climate Week in New YorkAnd at the rugby World Cup in France this weekend it is reigning champions South Africa against Grand Slam winners -Ireland. What are Africa's chances?

Ten years ago, members of the Islamist group al-Shabab attacked the Westgate shopping mall in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. The incident lasted for four tense days and left 67 people dead. In this special episode of Focus on Africa, we'll hear from Valentine Kadzo and Shamim Allu who survived the Westgate attack. They talk about the impact it has had on their lives and how they managed to heal ten years later. We'll also speak to the BBC's Bushra Mohamed, who is a Kenyan-Somali and explains how her community has been affected by the incidents that followed the attack. And security analyst Dr. Hannah Macharia explains how the attack changed Kenya's counter-terrorism approach.

There are concerns that violent extremists are expanding their activities to northern Ivory Coast. A report by the Institute for Security Studies says that these groups have found ways to finance their activities, particularly along the border which West Africa's largest economy shares with Burkina Faso.A landmark case in Rivers State in southern Nigeria gives women the right to inherit property. What does this mean in practice?And the museum in the Netherlands which tells the story behind looted artefacts through the centuries.

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?