Africa News Feed

The ban was introduced in 2015 as schools reopened after the Ebola crisis.

The Kenyan marathon champion is trying to stay fit while self-isolating.

As Covid-19 infections rise across Africa, here are some tips on how and why to social distance.

Liberia’s ex-President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says the world must conquer fear to deal with coronavirus.

Esther has to keep working to feed her family in Kenya but is worried about catching coronavirus.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday ordered the “cessation of all movements” for two weeks in largest city Lagos and capital Abuja to stop the spread of coronavirus. 

Ethiopian athletics legend Haile Gebrselassie donates nearly $50,000 to a committee set up to fight the spread of coronavirus in his homeland.

Long-delayed parliamentary elections are being held a day after the country’s first Covid-19 death.

Many observers are fearing the worst after the first coronavirus case was recorded in Libya on March 24, with two rival governments fighting to take control of the country and a health system that has been on its knees for nearly a decade amid the chaos that followed the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime in 2011.

Malians voted in a long-delayed parliamentary election on Sunday, barely a day after the country recorded its first coronavirus death and with the leading opposition figure kidnapped and believed to be in the hands of jihadists.

The death of young Zimbabwean journalist Zororo Makamba exposes his country’s healthcare problems.

Police fired tear gas at a crowd of Kenyan ferry commuters as the country’s first day of a coronavirus curfew slid into chaos. Elsewhere, officers were captured in mobile phone footage whacking people with batons. 

Guinea has voted to back a contested new constitution, the country’s electoral body said Friday, in a blow to President Alpha Conde’s opponents who fear the reforms are a ploy to extend his grip on power.

Manu Dibango, whose Soul Makossa filled New York dance floors, died this week at the age of 86.

South Africa on Friday reported its first COVID-19 deaths, just as the country joined other African nations in imposing strict curfews and shutdowns to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

With more than 3,000 cases of the coronavirus across Africa, there is growing concern about the continent’s ability to keep the epidemic under control and protect its population. We bring you an exclusive interview from the Democratic Republic of Congo with one of Africa’s leading virologists, Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, who’s now in charge of his country’s response to COVID-19. He urges people to take the disease seriously and to practise social distancing.

Mali’s government said on Thursday that leading opposition figure Soumaila Cisse had been kidnapped in the West African nation’s volatile centre, just days before a long-delayed parliamentary poll. 

Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita announced a nationwide night-time curfew on Wednesday to limit the spread of coronavirus, but said a parliamentary vote planned for this week will go ahead. 

BBC Africa Eye investigates secret arms shipments into Libya, and shows how foreign powers are fuelling an ongoing war.

There are now more than 2,400 confirmed cases of the coronavirus across Africa, and there have been over 60 reported deaths. Many governments on the continent have enacted strict measures to slow the spread of the pandemic, closing borders and asking their citizens to stay home. But for people living in close quarters, social distancing and self-isolation are not possible.

South Africa’s coronavirus cases jumped again to 709, the health minister said Wednesday, as the country with the most cases in Africa prepared to go into lockdown first thing Friday.

The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo closed the country’s borders and imposed a state of emergency on Tuesday to contain the coronavirus outbreak, following other African nations that have imposed strict measures in recent days.

Boko Haram jihadists have killed nearly 100 Chadian soldiers in a seven-hour attack on an island army base, in their deadliest assault yet on the country’s armed forces. 

Afro-jazz legend Manu Dibango passed away on Tuesday in a Parisian hospital after contracting COVID-19 at the age of 86. We look at how the veteran artist had become an ambassador for African music around the globe.

Authorities across Africa are bracing for the coronavirus pandemic to hit home. We take a closer look at the situation in South Africa, where a three-week lockdown has been announced. In Madagascar, the army is enforcing strict confinement measures. And in Senegal, authorities in the capital Dakar have destroyed an informal market in a bid to curb the COVID-19 outbreak.

South Africa’s leader Cyril Ramaphosa is accused of inaction over a spate of child murders.

The removal of the revered emir of Kano raises questions about the continued role of Nigeria’s traditional rulers.

Nigerian Victor Olaiya, who died last month, was a musical pioneer and mentor to the Afrobeat legend.