Focus on Africa

The World Health Organization says that while most Africans do not drink alcohol, those who do can drink heavily. So are some young people turning to alcohol to cope with stress, work pressures, and mental health challenges? And are women facing a different set of pressures? We heard from 26-year-old Kenyan content creator Chebet Ronoh, who has documented her struggles with alcohol and relapse, an...

Mozambique has reintegrated more than 100 former Islamist militants into civilian life as part of an amnesty programme launched five years ago to help restore stability in Cabo Delgado. The region has been gripped by an insurgency for nearly a decade, leaving more than 6,000 people dead and displacing around 1.1 million others. With military and regional peace efforts, including a mission led by S...

Nigeria's Health Minister Muhammad Ali Pate has confirmed their first Ebola case, which also marks the Bundibugyo strain's entry into West Africa. The patient is reported to have visited Uganda, though authorities in Kampala say she also visted the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is the epicentre of the outbreak. Uganda was declared free of the virus in August. We put the frequently asked ques...

Kenyan high court finds cult leader Paul MacKenzie guilty over the death of 190 children and one adult. Mackenzie ordered members of his cult to starve their children to death so they could "meet Jesus". In 2023, more than four hundred bodies were discovered in mass graves in the forest where his church was located. We hear from one of the first responders onsite in 2023. Also, the World Bank is r...

Across the continent, the increasing price of fuel is being felt by households and businesses alike, as governments grapple with the economic impact of rising costs. South Africans are demanding an immediate decrease, as users in Malawi face acute shortages. As the ripple effects of the hike spreads, we hear from Nigeria's Finance Minister, who has announced a discount at the pump for consumers. M...

Across Africa, more young workers are questioning what they should have to tolerate at work. From bullying and excessive workloads to poor leadership and low pay, some are choosing to leave jobs that take a toll on their mental health. The World Health Organization estimates that depression and anxiety cost the global economy 12 billion working days every year, amounting to around US$1 trillion in...

Rwanda has secured a 10-year deal to host Formula 1, potentially bringing the sport back to Africa for the first time since 1993. But the cost of developing young talent remains a major barrier. South African driver Mika Abrahams and his mother, Denise, discuss the financial challenges facing aspiring African drivers as they try to progress through the ranks towards Formula 1. Also, women make up...

Former Democratic Republic of Congo president Joseph Kabila has been named the head of a new political and military alliance that includes M23 rebels, who control vast swathes of Congo’s mineral-rich eastern region. The Front for the Refoundation of the Nation, or FRN movement says it wants to remove the government of President Félix Tshisekedi. M23 leader Sultani Makenga will serve as one of Kabi...

Survivors of the boat accident where 139 migrants died off the coast of Djibouti have recounted their ordeals to the BBC. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that among those died were 15 children, marking one of the deadliest shipwrecks ever recorded on the Eastern Migration Route. The vessel was carrying 305 people, most of them Ethiopians, heading from Djibouti to Yemen....

Nobel Peace Prize winner Navi Pillay has defended international justice institutions and responded to criticism from US President Donald Trump, saying the true measure of justice lies in what it means to victims of conflict and atrocities. Trump described this year's Nobel Peace Prize decision as "disgraceful" and "embarrassing," and said he had never heard of the South African jurist. In an inter...

For many young Africans, working remotely for an international company sounds like the dream: no daily commute, greater flexibility and, in some cases, the chance to earn in foreign currencies. But is remote working as liberating as it seems? What are the challenges of trading the traditional 9-to-5 for a job that can be done from anywhere? Nkechi Ogbonna speaks to 29-year-old Joy Aliba from Ugand...

Thursday marks the end of the three-day national mourning period in Nigeria after a military aircraft crashed in Southwest Ondo state, killing all 25 people on board. Analysts have said it is the country’s deadliest military air disaster since 1992. We hear from witnesses, and our reporter who was at the scene. And a new generation of African travel creators are using social media to show global a...

Kenya has allocated $538 million to its Ebola response after confirming the country’s first case, linked to the ongoing outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The money will support efforts to prevent further spread as health authorities step up surveillance and contact tracing. We look at whether Kenya and its neighbours are prepared as transmission continues in eastern DRC. In Liberia, hu...

Burkina Faso's military-led government has opened a gold refinery in a bid to tighten its grip on one of the country's most important industries. The $19 million facility known as Raffinor-BF is financed by the state, including through the National Precious Metals Company (Sonasp), in partnership with Burkina Faso's private sector. The plant will initially be capable of refining 164 tonnes of gold...

Forces aligned to Ethiopia's national army have taken control of Mekelle, the capital of the northern Tigray region. This came after the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), a movement opposing the federal government, withdrew from the capital, days after they had seized control of its main airport. Mobile and banking services apppear to have resumed in some parts of the city after internet di...

Twenty-five years ago, a group of senior Eritrean politicians known as the G-15 called for democratic reform. Eleven were arrested and accused of treason. They have never been put on trial, and their families still do not know where they are. Human rights groups, including the UN, consider the G-15, prisoners of conscience and have been calling for their release. Among the detained was former defe...

Fatima Zahra El Mansouri has been named Morocco's first female prime minister, after her Authenticity and Modernity Party (Pam) won the most seats in last week's parliamentary elections. The party secured 97 of the 395 seats in the lower house of parliament, short of an outright majority, which means El Mansouri’s first task will be to build a governing coalition. Speaking at the royal palace afte...

Kenya has broken the ground for a new oil refinery backed by Nigerian industrialist and Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote. The 700,000 barrels per day refinery is believed to be a gamechanger in the energy security and stability of petroleum supply in the East African region. The construction of the $16bn dollar oil refinery in Lamu, coastal Kenya is expected to create about 60,000 jobs and be c...

South Africa is reeling from a series of mass shootings that have left dozens of people dead in less than a week near three of South Africa's biggest cities. One attack happened on Saturday evening when eight gunmen stormed a bar near Johannesburg and opened fire on customers killing 18 people. A few hour later, 10 people were killed in a separate shooting outside an entertainment venue near Cape...

As heavy fighting resumes between a coalition of armed opposition forces and Ethiopia's federal government, the country's army commander has accused Sudan and Eritrea of backing the rebel groups. Sudan has denied the claimes and described them as baseless. In Tigray, where a deadly war ended in 2022, the regional state broadcaster, Tigray TV went off air on Sunday. Privately-owned news outlet Zara...

For millions of young Africans, leaving home in search of better opportunities has become an increasingly attractive option. A recent Afrobarometer survey across 38 African countries found that 55% of young people aged 18–35 have considered emigrating. Roughly 22% would prefer to remain somewhere in Africa, while 60% favour Europe or North America. Among those considering leaving, better work oppo...

Renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia between Tigrayan forces and the national army is threatening a return to civil war after four years of peace. On Thursday, The Ethiopian National Defense Force siad it had killed hundrends of Tigray fighters and captured a large number of others. The military described its activity as a counter-attack. Fighting is also escalating in Amhara and Afar regions of...

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR says Chad is now hosting around 1.5 million refugees and asylum-seekers from Sudan. And despite the war entering its fourth year, the flow of people has not stopped. More than 50,000 of them have arrived in Eastern Chad this year alone. We speak with Mamadou Dian Baldé, UNHCR's Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa who recently visited some of the refugee c...

BBC reporter Madina Maishanu takes us inside the cells where 37 artisanal miners died last week. Nigeria’s Interior Minister Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo says a panel investigating the deaths in Niger State will examine the circumstances of their arrest, detention and whether they were tortured or denied medical care. And, from underground beats to international stages, Morocco’s urban music is going global...

For months now, power blackouts have been disrupting life and business for thousands of people in Gambia. The crisis has recently sparked protests in the capital Banjul and surrounding areas and at least 20 people have been arrested. The country's main power provider, NAWEC, says the outage is the result of rising demand, limits on electricity imports, and technical challenges. As public frustrati...