South African opposition politician Julius Malema has criticised Ghana’s decision to evacuate some of its citizens from South Africa following growing fears over xenophobic violence.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus travels to the eastern province of Ituri, the epicentre of the current outbreak, on Friday.

The verdict has sparked outrage among the civil parties with their lawyers already saying they plan to appeal.

The president of Senegal has pardoned a journalist convicted to life in prison over a 2018 massacre in the southern Casamance region, the Committee to Protect Journalists watchdog said in a statement.

Cape Verde’s main opposition party, the PAICV, has won an absolute majority in parliamentary elections, securing 37 of 72 seats and ending a decade of rule by Ulisses Correia e Silva’s government. The victory positions party leader Francisco Carvalho to become the next prime minister.

Police say eight students have been arrested in connection with the suspected arson attack in which 16 pupils died.

It also increase penalties for the distribution of counterfeit notes and refusal to accept notes and coins issued by the Central Bank of West African States.

It is the latest salvo in the ongoing crackdown on independent organisations by the military authorities which seized power in a 2022 coup.

South Africa's border police stopped a truck from Malawi that was driving into the country with drugs worth nearly one billion rand ($61 million), authorities said on Thursday.

Advances in Morocco’s aerospace, automotive and phosphate sectors have pushed the kingdom to the top of Africa’s industrialisation rankings, overtaking long-time leader South Africa.