The World Health Organization voiced alarm at surging Covid-19 cases across Africa, with the spread of new more contagious variants even as vaccination rates remain dangerously low.

MAIDUGURI/ABUJA, June 18 - A senior cleric with Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram confirmed the death of its leader and urged fighters to stay loyal in its fight against rival Islamic State militants, according to a video seen by Reuters on Friday.

Ethiopia has been beset by unrest since the unbanning of opposition and rebel groups stoked political fragmentation and long-suppressed rivalries among rival ethnic groups.

Several beheadings, including of teenagers, have been reported around the restive northern Mozambique town of Palma since it was attacked by militants in March, a charity and local sources said.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, political leaders and parties have paid tribute to Zambia’s founding president Kenneth Kaunda.

Kenya raised $1 billion in its first Eurobond sale in two years as the East African nation balances between the need to fund its economic recovery and lower its debt burden.

Civilians in the Central African Republic told investigators they were indiscriminately shot at by Russian private security contractors.

Gunmen have killed a police officer and kidnapped at least 80 students and five teachers from a school in the Nigerian state of Kebbi, police, residents and a teacher have said.

News24 has appointed seasoned journalist Lynsey Chutel to head up its Africa desk.

Former president Thabo Mbeki recalled personal anecdotes of late former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda’s generosity and support for the ANC.

Kenneth Kaunda, Zambia's first post-colonial president, in key dates.

Gunmen have kidnapped four Chinese rail construction employees and killed their police escort in south west Nigeria, police said.

The death of one of the last of a generation of liberation leaders, Kenneth Kaunda, was met with sadness and nostalgia, as many remembered his contributions to democracy across Africa.

The Zambian government has declared 21 days of national mourning, with flags flying at half-mast, and suspended all forms of entertainment.

Tanzania is working to join the Covax global vaccine-sharing facility and will sit down with aid agencies next week to plan its first national Covid inoculation campaign.

Gunmen killed a police officer and abducted five teachers and an unknown number of students from a school in the north western Nigerian state of Kebbi.

MTN chief executive Ralph Mupita is in Nigeria on his first working visit since taking the reins at Africa's largest telecommunications firm.

Kenneth Kaunda, Zambia's founding president and liberation hero, has died, aged 97, at a military hospital in Lusaka where he was being treated for pneumonia.

The World Health Organisation warns current rates of Covid-19 infections could soon surpass the 2020 peak. Namibia, one of three countries experiencing record infection rates, has introduced stricter lockdown measures.

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 3 835 238 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP.