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A South African business owner has told the BBC that some of his staff sent him messages saying they needed money for food during the height of the country’s battle against Covid-19 and restrictions.

“It was really sad for me,” Sakhumzi Maqubela, a restaurant owner in Soweto, told Alan Kasujja from the BBC’s Africa Daily podcast. “It was really terrible to be of no help to my staff,” he continued.

“They would send me photos of their furniture being thrown out of their places where they’re renting, that they need to pay the landlord,” he said.

Another businessman, who runs an events management company, said his lowest moment during the pandemic was in 2020 during the country’s highest alert level.

“I’m informed by some of my colleagues in government that there’s a looming lockdown,” Thato Mothopeng recalls.

“About 750,000 rand ($48,000; £38,000) worth of deals got lost and I was supposed to host the Soweto Camp Festival that Easter. So I’ve invested money, I can’t get refunds,” he said.

South Africa had the highest number of recorded Covid cases in the continent, with strict lockdown measures put in place to curb the disease’s spread.

In April 2022, it lifted the state of disaster, but some safety measures still remain in place.

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A plan to reintroduce rhino species to the Zinave National Park in southern Mozambique – which became extinct there 40 years ago - has been announced by the governments of Mozambique and South Africa.

The governments approved the reintroduction of more than 40 rhinos to a specially constructed high-security sanctuary within the 4,000 sq km (1,540 sq mile) park.

The rhinos will be translocated from South Africa over a period of one to two years.

The project to bring in the critically endangered black rhino and the near-threatened white rhino to the park is being spearheaded by the South African non-governmental organisation Peace Parks Foundation and the Exxaro Resources company, which is a coal and mining firm.

In 2002, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe entered into a treaty to establish the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area, spanning over 100,000 sq km (3860 sq miles) and incorporating five national parks, including the iconic Kruger National Park.

Since 2016, a rewilding programme has reintroduced more than 2,300 animals representing 14 species – including buffalos, elephants and leopards - into the park.

The park was ravaged during the Mozambique civil war that ended in 1992 and subsequent poaching.

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Nigeria’s national emergency management agency, Nema, says mass burials are expected to take place Monday afternoon for dozens of victims of a huge explosion at an illegal oil refinery in the south-eastern state of Imo.

Head of operations of the agency in the region, Ifeanyi Nnaji, told the BBC that so far 110 people have been confirmed dead - including a pregnant woman.

About 70 others were wounded in the blast - some now in critical condition in hospitals.

Most of the victims including workers and people who had come to buy fuel were burnt beyond recognition.

Many families could not identify the bodies of their loved ones caught in the disaster.

The authorities say the mass burials are planned to take place near the scene.

The owner of the refinery has been declared wanted by the authorities.

It is still unclear what caused the explosion, which occurred on Friday night through Saturday morning in the Abaeze community of the Egbema area.

Read more:

• Nigeria in trauma after Imo refinery deaths - President Buhari

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The World Health Organization says it has identified more 100 people who came into contact with a new case of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

It says they are being closely monitored for symptoms and vaccinations will start in the next few days.

Over the weekend the health authorities declared the third Ebola outbreak in Equateur Province since 2018.

A 31-year-old man who contracted the virus in the city of Mbandaka died.

DR Congo has experienced 14 outbreaks which have claimed thousands of lives.

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Togo's parliament has passed a resolution asking the government to make a formal bid for membership of the Commonwealth, a group of mainly former British colonies.

The country is already a member of the Economic Organisation of West African States (Ecowas) and the International Organisation of La Francophonie - a group of French-speaking countries that are mostly former French colonies.

"Togo is not leaving the Francophonie. It will only strengthen the English teaching programmes and reactivate other partnerships," the privately-owned Icilome news website quoted speaker of parliament Yawa Tsegan as saying.

The resolution, passed on Friday, asked the government to submit its application for Commonwealth membership at the bloc's next summit in Rwanda in June.

The West African nation embarked on the process of joining the Commonwealth in 2014.