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Democratic governments in West and Central Africa are being increasingly challenged by the military.

For the latest updates, go to .

Residents of south-eastern Nigeria live in fear as a separatist rebellion has upended daily life.

Adriaan Vlok gave police orders to kill a cleric and later washed his feet to seek redemption.

Four people have now been detained after Edwin Chiloba's body was found dumped in a metal box.

President Macky Sall declares three days of mourning following a deadly collision between two buses.

Mali's junta leader pardoned the soldiers after a court convicted them of undermining state security.

The Black Star Line Festival concluded on Saturday with a festival featuring international stars.

Nigeria wants local languages to replace English in primary education, but some say it's not practical.

Six journalists have been detained over footage of the South Sudan president appearing to wet himself.

Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy has surgery on a fractured finger he suffered in training this week.

Greg Jenner is joined by historian Dr Augustus Casely-Hayford OBE and comedian Sophie Duker to explore the incredible Asante Empire. We learn the roots of Ghanian heritage - from storytelling, fabric, food, music and rhythm as communication, to how centuries of traditions across the empire came together to protect the most sacred symbol of power in the Asante Kingdom from the hands of the British during the War of the Golden Stool.

For the full-length version of this episode, please look further back in the feed.

Produced by Cornelius Mendez Script by Greg Jenner and Emma Nagouse Research by Lloyd Roberts

A production by The Athletic for ���˿��� Radio 4.

With CHAN due to start on January 12, football and politics are colliding again with an off-field match-up between the North African neighbours.

The boss of World Athletics, Lord Coe, says authorities are working with the governing body to clean up the sport in Kenya.

Police are investigating after the designer's body was discovered dumped at the roadside.

That's all for now from the ���˿��� Africa Live Page team this week but we'll pick things up again on Monday morning Nairobi time. For now, there will be an automated service here.

You can also check our stories on the ���˿��� News website or listen to our Africa Today podcast.

A reminder of our African proverb of the day:

And we leave you with this photo of Christian believers at a New Year cross-over event in Kenya's capital, Nairobi. It is from our selection of the best pictures from the continent this week.

Image source, Getty Images

���˿��� Focus on Africa radio

Despite recent scandals surrounding cryptocurrencies Nigerian tech entrepreneur and web designer Ire Aderinokun believes digital currency can play an important role in Africa.

She’s one of the co-founders of , a company that’s working on building a cryptocurrency infrastructure on the continent.

"It's important to highlight how crypto can be used for financial freedom and not just as a method of speculation," she says.

But she stressed that people have lost money, including herself, and it's "something that should be used with caution".

Ms Ire is also an equality campaigner, championing the rights of women and says cryptocurrencies can be a useful activism tool because they are outside the control of governments, making it less likely for authorities to curtail activists’ access to funds.

The potential of cryptocurrencies and their underlying technology in Africa is one of the topics Ms Ire chose to cover in her role as the guest editor of Focus on Africa radio programme.

Listen to the full interview here:

���˿��� Focus on Africa radio

The Senegalese authorities banned a protest planned for Friday to denounce the findings of a report which raised questions about the management of the country’s $1.5bn (£1.3bn) Covid-19 fund.

The report, published by the Court of Auditors two weeks ago, said that there were irregularities in how the money has been spent.

The government responded saying that the failures reported account for less than 1% of the fund.

They said they will following the recommendations from the report, one of which included investigating officials in the ministries.

While the authorities stated that the place chosen for the demonstration was subject to “major works” ahead of Independence Day celebrations, supporters of opposition leader, Ousmane Sonko, told the ���˿��� that they believe the protest was banned because the government was worried about the impact it would have.

���˿��� World Service

In the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the M23 rebel group has handed over an important military base to an East African regional force.

Rumangabo Camp, north of the city of Goma, was seized last October but was handed over as part of a ceasefire brokered by East African leaders.

However, M23 fighters have still been seen in the Kibumba area, despite the fact that it was also meant to have been handed over last month.

At least 400,000 people were displaced last year during an offensive by the group.

The Congolese government and UN experts say Rwanda is supporting M23 - which Kigali denies.

Djamel Belmadi's future was up in the air after failing to reach the World Cup, but he has now signed a contract until 2026.