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BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS Riyad Mahrez was crowned the BBC African Footballer of the Year 2016. Fans from across the world voted for the midfielder, who plays for Algeria’s national team, nicknamed the Fennecs, as well as for Leicester City in the English Premier League. He came in ahead of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Andre Ayew, Sadio Mane and Yaya Toure in the voting. The award caps an exceptional year for the 25-year-old winger, who had already won the Premier League title and was voted the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year. It was further recognition for his outstanding form as…

REUTERS Nigeria and Morocco have signed a joint venture to construct a gas pipeline that will connect the two nations and other African countries to Europe. The agreement was reached during a visit by Morocco’s King Mohammed to the Nigerian capital, Abuja, said Geoffrey Onyema, Nigeria’s minister of foreign affairs. Onyema said the project aims to create a competitive regional electricity market with the potential to be connected to European energy markets. No timeline was given for when the pipeline construction will start and how much it will cost. “Nigeria and the kingdom of Morocco also agreed to develop integrated…

VOICE OF AMERICA Nigerian Environment Minister Amina Mohammed has been named deputy secretary-general of the United Nations. The appointment made by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was part of his pledge to reach gender parity among senior leadership within his five-year term. He also appointed Brazilian diplomat Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti as chef de cabinet and Kyung-wha Kang of South Korea to a newly created position as special advisor on policy. “We must empower youth to participate in and shape the political and economic lives of their countries and communities, to be the agents of peace and development,” Mohammed said in…

Story and photo by EMBASSY OF FRANCE, CAMEROON To bolster the battle against extremism, France donated 10 tactical vehicles and five transport trucks to the Cameroonian Armed Forces. The vehicles, including an all-equipped sanitary unit, were handed over to Cameroonian Minister of Defence Joseph Beti Assomo by French Ambassador Gilles Thibault in November 2016. The vehicles are equipped with weapons and transmission equipment, and are accompanied with precision rifles, helmets and bulletproof vests. They are valued at $705,000 and are destined for the Cameroonian Army special units. It marked the second transfer of 2016 and was part of the bilateral…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Qatar and France promised more than $1 billion in financial support for Tunisia at an investment conference aimed at reviving the country’s struggling economy.Nearly six years after its Arab Spring revolution, Tunisia is confronting high unemployment, low growth and a tourism sector hammered by jihadist attacks. The two-day Tunisia 2020 conference in November 2016 aimed to put the North African nation “back on the investment map of the Mediterranean,” officials said. Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani pledged $1.25 billion in financial support at the opening session. He said the money would “support the Tunisian economy…

VOICE OF AMERICA The border between Nigeria and Cameroon has been fully reopened for the first time in three years. Officials from the two countries met in the Cameroonian capital, Yaounde, in December 2016 to review security issues and said the reopening was a clear sign of progress in the fight against Boko Haram. “Only a secured environment can provide [an] avenue for meaningful trade and commercial activities as well as unimpeded exchange of goods and services,” said Gen. Abba Mohammad Dikko, head of the Nigerian delegation. “The unflinching cooperation and support of Cameroon has indeed curtailed the menace of…

REUTERS Kenya set fire to 5,250 illegal firearms as part of a national effort to fight crimes such as cattle rustling, carjacking and terrorism. The fire destroyed weapons that had been confiscated by law enforcement officials or voluntarily surrendered to agents who were collecting illegal small arms and light weapons. “Here in Kenya, small arms are implicated in many deaths, in acts of armed violence, among them intercommunity conflicts, cattle rustling, violent crimes and poaching,” Deputy President William Ruto said in a speech before the weapons were set ablaze in November 2016. “Their presence has also intensified the threats posed…

REUTERS Tunisian security forces dismantled 160 terror cells in the first 10 months of 2016, about 45 percent more than during all of 2015, the Interior Ministry announced. A ministry statement said the country arrested 850 terrorism suspects between January and October 2016, compared with 547 for all of 2015. Security forces stepped up efforts to track down militants after Tunisia suffered three deadly attacks, including two targeting foreign tourists. In March 2016, security forces repelled the Islamic State’s attempt to take over the town of Ben Guerdan near the border with Libya. Tunisia has been the only country to…

ADF STAFF A long-serving officer of the Uganda People’s Defence Force has been named the country’s first female major general. President Yoweri Museveni announced in mid-January 2017 that Proscovia Nalweyiso, 62, was promoted to the new rank as part of sweeping changes in the military. She is also the first woman to hold such a rank in all of East Africa. Maj. Gen. Nalweyiso came to national prominence in the 1986 Bush War, also known as the Ugandan Civil War, which led to Museveni becoming president. The general, one of 20 children, became active in politics about 1979 while working…

VOICE OF AMERCA In western Kenya, children often travel great distances to attend school. Now, a program offering bikes to girls is helping them stay in school longer and avoid other issues such as early pregnancies. Loise Luseno, a 16-year-old girl from Kakamega, Kenya, used to walk about 10 kilometers to reach school. In 2015, she dropped out temporarily because of the distance. Members of her family work as subsistence farmers and earn about $30 a month — not nearly enough for food, school costs and transportation. In mid-2016, Luseno went back to school — this time on a bicycle.…