

Focus on Africa
BBC World Service
Three essential stories to round off your working day. Explaining the big topics and news from Africa, the people behind them, plus an African perspective on global stories. Hosted by Audrey Brown. Five days a week, ready by late afternoon, Monday to Friday.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 22, 2023 • 27min
Why is rapper Mohbad’s death controversial?
Mohbad: There's been controversy and outrage following mysterious death and hasty burial of Nigerian Afrobeats rapper Mohbad. Authorities have now carried out an exhumation of his body for autopsy following protests on streets and social mediaHow is climate change affecting Africa's pastoralists. We hear from a representative attending Climate Week in New YorkAnd at the rugby World Cup in France this weekend it is reigning champions South Africa against Grand Slam winners -Ireland. What are Africa's chances?

Sep 21, 2023 • 31min
Kenya: Westgate attack ten years on
Ten years ago, members of the Islamist group al-Shabab attacked the Westgate shopping mall in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. The incident lasted for four tense days and left 67 people dead. In this special episode of Focus on Africa, we'll hear from Valentine Kadzo and Shamim Allu who survived the Westgate attack. They talk about the impact it has had on their lives and how they managed to heal ten years later. We'll also speak to the BBC's Bushra Mohamed, who is a Kenyan-Somali and explains how her community has been affected by the incidents that followed the attack. And security analyst Dr. Hannah Macharia explains how the attack changed Kenya's counter-terrorism approach.

Sep 20, 2023 • 27min
Is Ivory Coast at risk from extremist groups?
There are concerns that violent extremists are expanding their activities to northern Ivory Coast. A report by the Institute for Security Studies says that these groups have found ways to finance their activities, particularly along the border which West Africa's largest economy shares with Burkina Faso.A landmark case in Rivers State in southern Nigeria gives women the right to inherit property. What does this mean in practice?And the museum in the Netherlands which tells the story behind looted artefacts through the centuries.

Sep 18, 2023 • 31min
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger sign defence pact
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, three West African countries in the Sahel region which are ruled by military juntas, have signed a defence pact to come to aid each other in case of any rebellion or external aggression.BBC Africa Eye investigation team gets a look inside a xenophobic vigilante group in South Africa.And how cheetahs from Namibia are now faring in India.

Sep 14, 2023 • 26min
Mali: Tuareg ex-separatists resume hostilities
The crisis in Mali continues to deepen. An alliance of Tuareg rebels called the CMA, which had signed an agreement with the government, has announced that it is resuming hostilities. That comes after Mali’s military government ordered the expulsion of French troops and UN peacekeepers from the country, with a jihadist insurgency still proving impossible to overcome.Could the deaths of thousands of people in Derna, Libya and the extensive damage to property and infrastructure been mitigated? We hear the views of a construction engineerPlus, how the self-declared Republic of Somaliland is using an app to boost literacy skills.

Sep 13, 2023 • 28min
Libya floods: What you need to know
There are scenes of utter devastation in Libya's eastern city of Derna, after a powerful storm caused two dams to burst, sweeping away large parts of the port city. Some aid has arrived, but with the country struggling under divided political administrations in the east and west, Libya's Prime Minister in Tripoli said they would only accept "necessary aid". We look at how the catastrophic impact of Storm Daniel has brought the country’s fragile and complex political situation to the fore.The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has lifted a year-long visa ban imposed on Nigerian travellers. Flights were stopped last year after Dubai’s Emirates airline suspended operations in Nigeria as it was angered by moves preventing it from transferring its revenues overseas because of a foreign currency crisis.Also…Conservationists in Egypt oppose the government’s plan to build a highway through Cairo’s centuries old cemetery The City of the Dead.

Sep 12, 2023 • 26min
Why Morocco is selective over earthquake aid
We look at why Morocco’s government has been selective over offers of humanitarian assistance from abroad, after the devastating earthquake which has killed more than 2,800 people.Four East African countries have reportedly incurred an estimated $30 billion in losses between 2021 and 2023, due to extreme droughts and devastating floods.Plus we meet the Queen of African horror writing, who is scared of ghosts.

Sep 11, 2023 • 25min
What caused Morocco's earthquake?
The number of people killed in Friday's powerful earthquake in Morocco has risen to more than two thousand people, the interior ministry says. With a magnitude of 6.8, the earthquake which hit central Morocco is the biggest the area has seen since before 1900. We explore the impact of military rule in Guinea two years after the fall of former President Alpha Conde.And we hear how a British-Nigerian performance artist is using opera to reconnect with her Pidgin-speaking roots.

Sep 8, 2023 • 30min
Gabon coup latest
We go to Gabon to get the latest on the situation in the country, after the military forced President Ali Bongo from power. The transitional authorities have held talks with dissidents jailed under Ali Bongo, and have freed some political prisoners.An update from Kadugli in Sudan, an area that has been experiencing heavy fighting in recent weeks. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced there, as the country as a whole faces up to a dire humanitarian situation.
Plus should Africa's hopes for the rugby World Cup rest on the current champions - South Africa?

Sep 7, 2023 • 25min
Nigeria: Are election petitions relevant?
Nigeria's Appeal Court has rejected challenges to Bola Tinubu's narrow victory in February's presidential election. As election petitions become more common in Africa we ask how fair are election challenges. Between July and October 2022, about 70 children in the west African nation of The Gambia died because of suspected kidney ailments allegedly caused by consumption of cough syrup made in India. A year on since the first deaths in the Gambia, we hear from the families about their shared grief and their struggle for justice.And meet young climate change activists on the frontline pushing for more action beyond pledges following the Africa Climate Summit that took place in Nairobi.