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 media How is climate change affecting Africa's pastoralists. We hear from a representative attending Climate Week in New York And at the rugby World Cup in France this weekend it is reigning champions South Africa against Grand Slam winners -Ireland. What are Af...
Sep 22, 2023•27 min
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 he...
Sep 21, 2023•31 min
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 loo...
Sep 20, 2023•27 min
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.
Sep 18, 2023•31 min
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 ...
Sep 14, 2023•26 min
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 Un...
Sep 13, 2023•28 min
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.
Sep 12, 2023•26 min
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....
Sep 11, 2023•25 min
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...
Sep 08, 2023•30 min
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...
Sep 07, 2023•25 min
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
Sep 06, 2023•28 min
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 o...
Sep 05, 2023•30 min
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?
Sep 04, 2023•27 min
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,...
Sep 01, 2023•26 min
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.
Aug 31, 2023•27 min
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.
Aug 30, 2023•28 min
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?
Aug 29, 2023•25 min
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 g...
Aug 28, 2023•25 min
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 ago P...
Aug 25, 2023•28 min
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 dow...
Aug 24, 2023•27 min
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 ten...
Aug 23, 2023•25 min
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...
Aug 22, 2023•25 min
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 theft And Ghanaian immunologist Yaw Bediako on how to expand research and keep African scientists on the continent.
Aug 21, 2023•28 min
Zimbabwe prepares to hold its second election since the 2017 overthrow of President Robert Mugabe, with many disenchanted at a lack of progress under his successor Emmerson Mnangagwa. Many Zimbabweans face economic hardship, and some young people are turning to drugs to fill the void created by a lack of opportunities. Plus, we look at the impact of the World Bank saying Uganda won’t receive new loans from the institution, as a result of the country passing a stringent anti-LGBTQ+ law in May. Ug...
Aug 18, 2023•31 min
Libya's political chaos continues. Two powerful militias clashed this week in the capital Tripoli. Calm was restored but over 50 people were killed, and more than 140 were injured. A group of opposition parties in South Africa have been meeting to form an alliance to dislodge the ruling African National Congress from power. But why was the EFF excluded? And a petitioner calls on members of parliament in Kenya to ban the use of popular social media app TikTok. He argues that the application is co...
Aug 17, 2023•29 min
After the military junta ruling Niger closed the country’s airspace, we look at the potential implications for the country, and for aviation in Africa more broadly. The move will force commercial aircraft to find alternative routes, increasing flight times and prices for passengers. Plus, we take a look at why Ethiopia is desperate to establish permanent access to a sea port, and why recent comments from Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed have provoked the ire of the country’s coastal neighbours. And we ...
Aug 16, 2023•27 min
We speak to a farmer who had to flee Sudan due to the ongoing conflict, while the UN is warning that 20 million people in the country face severe acute hunger. What makes a good leader? We'll find out from young Burundian leadership coach Iris Irumva. And we bring you the second part of our special looking at the story behind the prison escape of convicted criminal Thabo Bester, a case that has transfixed South Africa.
Aug 15, 2023•31 min
A group of data labellers in Kenya want parliament to step in to offer protection from mental trauma caused by reviewing harmful content. Plus, the story of the girl in Mauritania who was arrested for blasphemy over an essay she wrote for school. And how the case of escaped convict Thabo Bester is shining a light on prison privatisation in South Africa.
Aug 14, 2023•27 min
ECOWAS leaders have ended their emergency summit on the coup in Niger. They say all options are still on the table. They have also called for the immediate activation of a standby force. A new report accuses the Angolan police of serious human rights abuses. And a global survey explores the hopes and aspirations of the world's youth.
Aug 11, 2023•30 min
Endless queues and empty bakery stalls. Earlier this week, around 200 Tunisian bakers staged a sit-in after a government decision to stop selling them subsidised flour, a move threatening the closure of hundreds of bakeries. Five people, including a police officer have died in violent protests related to the taxi strike in Cape Town, South Africa. We'll hear a first hand account of what it's like to live through the Cape Town minibus taxi strike in South Africa. And we'll also hear from the Nige...
Aug 10, 2023•25 min
