China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday rejected suggestions that Beijing was luring African countries into debt traps by offering them massive loans, dismissing the idea as a "narrative" pushed by opponents to poverty reduction.

Internet and mobile services appeared to be disrupted in Sudan on Thursday ahead of the latest round of planned protests against a military takeover that upended a transition towards elections.

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Tunisian doctors on Wednesday expressed "grave fears" for the health of former justice minister Noureddine Bhiri, who has been refusing food or medication since his arrest last week, a rights body said.

Nigeria's government on Wednesday labelled criminal bandit gangs blamed for mass kidnappings as terrorist groups in an attempt to deter violence in the country's northwest.

France has discovered a new coronavirus variant, IHU, which was first detected in a Frenchman who travelled to Cameroon, but say it does not mean IHU originated in Cameroon.

Africa's top public health official said on Thursday that severe lockdowns were no longer the best way to contain Covid-19, praising South Africa for adopting that approach when responding to its latest infection wave driven by the Omicron variant.

A bill introduced in Senegal's parliament to toughen criminal penalties for homosexuals fell at the first hurdle on Wednesday, failing to progress to the assembly's main floor.

Amid mounting unrest, analysts expect military to co-opt new civilian figure to avoid missing out on foreign aid.

One of Zimbabwe's biggest wildlife reserves is to receive US$1 million annually from a brand-new fund to help sustain its operations and fight poaching, German conservationists said on Wednesday.

At least 11 Zimbabweans who attempted to cross the crocodile-infested Limpopo River into South Africa are feared dead after a boat carrying eight reportedly capsized, while the other three were swept away in different incidents.

Burundian troops have been sighted in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to local sources on Wednesday, with one saying the troops were after Burundian rebels holed up in the area.

New report by rights watchdog alleges mistreatment of ethnic Tigrayans singled out after return to war-hit Ethiopia.

In the largest hospital in Ethiopia's Tigray region, a child wounded in an air strike bled to death after doctors ran out of gauze and intravenous fluids. A baby died because there were no fluids for dialysis.

US fast-food chain KFC has triggered an online furore in Kenya after it ran out of fries, with local Twitter users threatening a boycott because it does not use locally-sourced potatoes.

Mauritania's President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani has tested positive for Covid-19 and is displaying mild symptoms, state media said on Tuesday.

A Kampala court on Tuesday ordered the release of an acclaimed Ugandan novelist who was detained and allegedly tortured after he posted unflattering comments about veteran President Yoweri Museveni's powerful son.

Detained Tunisian ex-justice minister Noureddine Bhiri of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party, who is refusing food or medication after his transfer to hospital, is suspected of "terrorism", the interior minister said Monday.

The Southern African Development Community is holding week-long meetings that will culminate in a virtual Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government to review the bloc's mission in Mozambique on Friday.

Mozambique's President Filipe Nyusi and his wife Isaura have tested positive for Covid-19 and are isolating, the president's office said on Monday.