The Malian defender was the first person from his country to be a member of a Uefa Champions League winning team.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa says he prays the monkeypox outbreak does not reach the country.

Outbreaks of the virus have recently been found in Europe, Australia, America and the Middle East.

In Africa, Morocco and Sudan are investigating suspected cases, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).

“I would hope that monkeypox does not come our way and we pray and hope for that. We will obviously want to be ready if it were ever to descend on South Africa so that we can continue, once again, to defend our people and make sure our health is safeguarded,” President Ramaphosa told a media briefing on Thursday.

"We wish those countries well that are now having to deal with monkeypox, we wish them strength and whenever we're called upon to give assistance, we would be ready and willing to give assistance.

Here is a video of the media briefing. His comments on monkeypox start from the 34th minute:

Africa CDC has advised African countries to scale up surveillance and testing.

Monkeypox, a mild viral infection, can be spread when someone is in close contact with an infected person.

It is usually associated with travel to central or West Africa, near tropical forests.

Image source, Getty Images

South African police have opened a murder case against a father for the death of three of his sons aged six, 13 and 16 after they consumed an energy drink that he allegedly gave them.

Two of the siblings died at school and the third died on the way to hospital.

A fourth child who consumed the drink is said to be in a critical condition at a local hospital. A fifth brother did not consume the energy drink and is fine.

"We have a case of murder that has been opened with three counts and a case of attempted murder," police spokesperson Brig Brenda Muridili said.

The father is reportedly under guard in hospital after allegedly trying to poison himself.

In a statement, the education department in Gauteng province expressed sadness over the deaths of the three siblings at Ratanda Primary and Khanya Lesedi Secondary Schools.

County education official Panyaza Lesufi termed it "a deliberate act" when asked whether the deaths were as a result of contamination or poisoning.

"It looks like it was a deliberate act because the information at our disposal is that the father also attempted to commit suicide. It's an indication that indeed this thing was planned," he told local TV station eNCA, external.

"We also got unconfirmed reports that the mother is also hospitalised, but this is information that we need to verify."

The official said they would be visiting the schools and family on Friday.

A psycho-social support unit has been sent to offer counselling to the bereaved family and the school community.

Nicolas Negoce
BBC News, Tivaouane

Image source, Reuters

Senegal President Macky Sall has sacked his Health Minister, Abdoulaye Diouf Sarr, after 11 babies were killed by a fire in a hospital on Wednesday.

Mr Sarr will be replaced by Marie Khemesse Ngom Ndiaye, the ministry's director general, following the tragedy in Tivaouane.

The blaze, which rapidly engulfed the newborn unit at the Tivaouane hospital, is being blamed on an electrical short circuit.

President Sall declared three days of national mourning. He also ordered an investigation into the tragedy.

He is expected to visit Tivaouane on Saturday to meet the babies' relatives.

Many observers say that Senegal's health system is beset by staffing, infrastructure, equipment and funding problems.

A series of other deaths also have raised concerns about maternal and infant health in the West African nation known for having some of the best hospitals in the region.

Image source, Reuters

The US Justice Department says it has secured the forfeiture of a mansion bought by former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh for $3.5m (£2.7m) with alleged proceeds from corruption.

The property in Potomac, Maryland, is said to have been acquired through a trust set up by his wife, Zineb Jammeh.

It has now been forfeited to the US along with all rental income generated by the property since a complaint was filed in 2020, a statement by the department said, external.

“The United States intends to sell the property, and recommend to the Attorney General that the net proceeds from the sale of the forfeited property be used to benefit the people of The Gambia harmed by former President Jammeh’s acts of corruption and abuse of office,” the department said.

The former president is accused of having conspired with family and associates by using shell companies and overseas trusts to launder his alleged corrupt proceeds throughout the world.

The Gambian government this week said it was ready to prosecute him for what it called "the myriad of crimes" he committed during his rule.

He denies allegations of wrongdoing.

Mr Jammeh came to power in a military coup in 1994, and ruled until 2017 when he went into exile after a shock electoral defeat.

The 57-year-old now lives in Equatorial Guinea.

Our proverb of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

A selection of the best photos from across Africa and beyond this week.

Maggie Grout has started an NGO that will 3D-print schools where access to education is not guaranteed.

Jean-Luc Martinez is accused of facilitating the transfer of objects to the museum’s Abu Dhabi site.

The fire is thought to have been caused by a short circuit at the hospital in Tivaouane, officials say.

That's all from the BBC Africa Live team for now. There will be an automated news feed until we're back on Friday morning.

You can also keep up to date on the BBC News website or by listening to the Africa Today podcast.

A reminder of our wise words of the day:

Click here to send us your African proverbs.

And we leave with this photo of a sculpture on a beachfront in Senegal's capital - part of the Dakar Biennale that is bringing art to the streets of the city.

Image source, Getty Images

Shingai Nyoka
BBC News, Harare

Image source, AFP

Zimbabwe’s African elephant summit has closed without broad support to lift the ban on the ivory trade, but it did conclude that decisions taken by the body overseeing endangered species were “no longer scientific”.

Trade in ivory was banned in 1989 by the Convention for the International Trade of Endangered Species (Cites).

“Cites decisions are no longer scientific but based on votes and emotion. As such there is need to review the convention and ensure it serves its intended purpose,” the summit’s final communique says.

Zimbabwe had organised the summit so Africa would have a unified voice at the next Cites gathering that takes place in Panama in November.

Representatives attending the summit in the Zimbabwean resort of Hwange - from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia - agreed this was a good idea.

But Zimbabwe had wanted them to back lifting the ivory trade ban so it could sell its stockpile, estimated to be around $600m (£480m).

It argued the money could be ploughed back into conservation and help those living in elephant areas.

The summit acknowledged that conservation efforts were working in southern Africa, given growing elephant populations there - so their views should be taken into account.

Zimbabwe has a population of about 100,000 elephants - the world's second-largest after Botswana - and at least 60 people have been killed by elephants since the start of the year.

It was also agreed that local communities in wildlife areas should be included in any decision making on these issues.

About 50 people living in an area in eastern Burkina Faso under threat from jihadists have been killed by armed assailants, the region’s governor has said.

Colonel Hubert Yameogo said, external the identity of the attackers was not yet known, though Islamist militants have overrun large areas of the West African country in recent years.

He said those killed were travelling from the rural area of Madjoari to the village of Nadiagou, which is about 60km (40 miles) away - close to the borders of Benin and Togo.

Survivors told the AFP news agency by phone that they had been trying to flee as food had run out in the area because of a militant blockade.

"The people were intercepted and were executed by the terrorists. All the dead were men,” one of them is quoted as saying.

With Morocco's Noussair Mazraoui joining Bayern Munich after 16 years at Ajax, BBC Sport Africa profiles the German champions' latest recruit.

Image source, Getty Images

Researchers have found that lead poisoning is probably to blame for crocodiles in a lake at a World Heritage site in South Africa losing their teeth.

The study sampled blood and tail fat tissues from 25 Nile crocodiles in Lake St Lucia, which is within KwaZulu-Natal province’s iSimangaliso Wetland Park, recognised by Unesco for its natural beauty in 1999.

The paper, published online last week by scientific journal Chemosphere, external, said lead weights used in fishing were probably behind the exposure and needed “urgent attention”.

Marc Humpries, one of the report’s authors from the School of Chemistry at South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand, said the findings were startling considering the area’s World Heritage status.

“Crocodiles at Lake St Lucia have some of the highest blood lead concentrations ever recorded in wildlife globally,” he is quoted as saying by Bloomberg news agency.

Lead accumulates in bones, and makes the teeth of the affected crocodiles fragile.

The reptiles cannot replace lost teeth, Bloomberg reports.

Mr Humpries said that non-toxic alternatives to lead such as steel and tungsten should be explored by conservation authorities.

Sara Adam
Africa business journalist, BBC News

Image source, AFP

Africa's largest production line for Covid-19 vaccines could be adapted to produce other drugs because of a lack of demand.

The vaccines have been made at a factory near Cape Town owned by South African pharmaceuticals business Aspen Pharmacare.

In March last year, Aspen struck a deal with US pharmaceuticals giant Johnson & Johnson to package and distribute its vaccine across Africa.

According to Dr Stavros Nicolau, a senior director at Aspen, the agreement assumed there would be demand for the vaccines supported by multilateral procurement agencies, such as the World Health Organization (WHO).

But it never materialised, he told the BBC.

Unless these orders come, keeping the production line going will no longer be sustainable, and the equipment would be used to make anaesthetics instead, he said.

He said in that case, Aspen would only produce Covid-19 vaccines on an emergency basis.

The African Union has a target for 60% of all vaccines administered on the continent to be produced locally by 2040. Currently the figure is just 1%.

Dr Nicolau said that at the height of the pandemic, there had been calls globally for Africa to produce more of its own vaccines.

But he insisted this could only happen if producers had support from international agencies, such as the WHO.

The WHO says demand is determined by countries, which submit their requests to Covax - the UN-backed body set up to get more jabs to less well-off countries - and that its role within the initiative is advisory.

When orders were placed with manufacturers, it was up to them which plant produced the vaccines, it says.

Correction Friday 27 May 2022: This post has been amended to better reflect Dr Nicolau's comments, as well as those of the WHO

More on this topic:

• Why Africa's only Covid vaccine plant is struggling

More than 10 newborn babies have died in a hospital fire in the western city of Tivaouane in Senegal.

BBC World Service
Newsroom

Image source, Getty Images

The former president of France's famous Louvre museum has been charged with conspiring to hide the origins of antiquities suspected to have been removed from Egypt during the Arab Spring uprisings, according to French media.

Jean-Luc Martinez was charged with complicity in fraud after being taken in for questioning, judicial sources say.

Investigators are looking into whether he deliberately overlooked fake certificates of origin for the acquired pieces.

Opened in 2018, the case relates to five works worth a combined $8.5m (£6.8m).

They include a rare pink granite artefact depicting the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun.

Mr Martinez was in charge of the Paris Louvre from 2013 to 2021. According to the Art Newspaper, he has previously denied any wrongdoing in the management of the acquisitions.

Dorcas Wangira
BBC Africa health correspondent

Morocco and Sudan are investigating suspected cases of monkeypox, Africa’s health body says.

This comes after outbreaks of the virus have recently been found in Europe, Australia, America and the Middle East.

Monkeypox is usually associated with travel to central or West Africa, near tropical forests, but some of the new cases have no travel link.

During his weekly briefing, external, Dr Ahmed Ogwell, deputy director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control (CDC), confirmed there was still no direct link.

He said the continent had so far reported 1,405 cases and 62 monkeypox-related deaths this year - a case fatality rate of 4.4%

These have occurred in four countries where the disease is endemic: Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria.

Dr Ogwell said all African countries were advised to scale up surveillance and testing.

Monkeypox, a mild viral infection, can be spread when someone is in close contact with an infected person.

Initial symptoms include fever, headaches, swellings, back pain, aching muscles - and a rash can develop once the fever breaks.

It is thought to be spread by rodents, such as rats, mice and squirrels.

“The washing of hands is very important as it is a contact-spread disease,” Dr Ogwell said.

He also advised people to avoid touching animals that looked sick and those known to be carriers.

Smallpox vaccines were being administered in Africa, Dr Ogwell said.

“The available supplies of smallpox vaccines will be prioritised to health workers and areas with confirmed cases of the virus,” he said.

• EXPLAINER: What is monkeypox and how do you catch it?

The draw for the 2022 African Nations Championship qualifiers throws up a potential clash between Ghana and Nigeria.