BBC News Africa

Oman SethCopyright: Oman Seth

Ami Yerewolo has been struggling to make it as a rap artist in Mali for 10 years.

Finally, though, things are working out for her. Today she drops her third album - AY - her first since being signed to the label of internationally acclaimed Cameroonian musician Blick Bassy.

The album is full of energy, and what sounds like anger too, but Yerewolo says it marks a new phase in her work.

“In my music I talk about things which concern me. I live in a society in which so many things are done to women, things which I myself have had to endure. I’ve been discriminated against so many times.

But in my new album I’m talking about my spirituality, because, after all, the difficulties I’ve been through have made me the woman I am today.”

Yerewolo was born in the small village of Mahina and grew up listening to the greats of Malian music, artists like Salif Keita and Oumou Sangare. She was not exposed to rap.

“Even me, I’m not sure where my desire to do rap came from... I think it was naturally in me because I had things I wanted to say.”

Her family didn’t want her to do music at all, let alone rap.

“In Mali rap is associated with delinquents and street kids, so to see a woman, especially a woman with a certain level of education, who is determined to do hip-hop is very badly regarded.

“I had to sacrifice part of my youth, my childhood, my family - I pretty much sacrificed everything for my music.”

She didn’t get much encouragement from Mali’s music establishment either.

“There are certain people here who decide who should be given exposure and who should not. They don’t care about talent, they don’t care about the effort you are putting in. They look at you like you're less than nothing. Excuse my language, but in Mali, you have to lick their butts to get on.

“I’m not saying all artists do that, but in general artists who succeed without doing that have succeeded elsewhere first.

“I’ve spent 10 years producing myself. I never found a producer, I never found a manager. I worked on the side to be able to pay to produce my songs, but now it’s OK thanks be to God.”

Bassy recognised Yerewolo’s talent and determination and signed her after just one meeting.

“He admired me as a rapper, and never tried to get me to do something else, to not be me. He also never asked me to rap in French or English. He loved how I rap in Bambara.”

Having finally had a piece of luck herself, Yerewolo is also doing her bit for other women in Mali who want to rap. She’s set up a festival of female rap.

“I don’t want my little sisters coming up behind me to face the same difficulties I had. I want to open the door to other young women. It can be hard, it can be complicated, but if they believe in themselves, they can succeed.”

You can hear more from Ami Yerewolo on This is Africa this weekend, on BBC World Service radio and partner stations across Africa and online.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Countries in West Africa have been urged to conduct investigations into the money-laundering activities of wildlife traffickers.

A new report by the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank, has warned that criminals in the wildlife trade have relocated to West Africa from other parts of the continent

This is in order to take advantage of weak law enforcement and a lack of investigations, the report says.

In the last few years West Africa has become a major transit point for illegal trade in wildlife - including elephant tusks poached elsewhere in Africa as well as pangolins.

In 2019 51 tonnes of pangolin scales were exported through Nigeria alone.

The country has been identified as the top transit point for illegal wildlife trade in the region.

Zainab FasikiCopyright: Zainab Fasiki

Being a woman in a conservative society like Morocco's can be difficult, but some are finding ways to tackle taboos and challenge perceptions using art and music.

“I believe that illustrations and art have a power to explain a story better than words or image,” says cartoonist Zainab Fasiki from Fez.

She has published a book called Hashouma, meaning “Shame” in Moroccan Arabic - and is a guide to gender identities, sexual orientations and topics that people are not taught at school.

Her mission is also to get men to “stop linking sex to the female body”.

LEVI X PROJECTCopyright: LEVI X PROJECT

For rapper Sooha, music is a way to tackle topics such as harassment - and it is also liberating.

“With music you can like be true to yourself and be true to what you feel. And without caring about people’s judgments.”

Both artists tell The Comb that social media has made it easier to pave the way to change attitudes - despite the criticism and abuse they often face.

You can listen to The Comb on BBC Sounds.

AFPCopyright: AFP

Six allies of Ivory Coast former President Laurent Gbagbo have returned home from 10 years in exile.

They had fled the country in the aftermath of a bloody five-month conflict that erupted when Mr Gbagbo refused to step down despite losing the presidential run-off in 2010 to Alassane Ouattara.

The six arrived in Abidjan on a flight from the Ghanaian capital, Accra.

The three most well-known among them are:

• Justin Koné Katinan, spokesman for the former president
• Damana Pickass, a former member of electoral commission, remembered for tearing up the results of the 2010 presidential election on camera
• Jeanette Koudou, Mr Gbagbo's younger sister.

President Ouattara, who won a controversial third term in office last year, had urged their return.

He has also said that Mr Gbagbo is free to return to the country after he was acquitted of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The acquittal of his ally, former youth leader Charles Blé Goudé - accused of leading a militia backing him - was also upheld by The Hague-based war crimes court last month.

No precise date has been set yet for their homecoming.

BBCCopyright: BBC

At least four soldiers have been killed in an attack in Cameroon on a military post in the West region, which borders an area where English-speaking rebels are fighting for a breakaway state.

Separatist leader Mark Bareta posted a video on Facebook saying the attack was in retaliation after the army’s arrest in Anglophone territory of three civilians.

A municipal councillor in West region's Ngalim district confirmed the attack on the Menfoung military post, without giving further details.

The West region, particularly the areas of Menoua and Bamboutos, are regularly targeted by separatists.

The UN estimates that at least 3,500 people have been killed in the English-speaking regions of North-West and South-West Cameroon since the secessionist conflict began in late 2016.

Anglophone activists say the country's French-speaking majority is marginalising the English-speaking minority.

You may also be interested in:

• The rebels fighting for independence
• Burning Cameroon: Images you're not meant to see

AFPCopyright: AFP

A former government minister in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been sentenced to three years in prison for money laundering and the illegal transfer of funds abroad.

Congolese prosecutors had been investigating Willy Bakonga over the embezzlement of funds earmarked for free primary education.

Earlier this month he was extradited from neighbouring Congo-Brazzaville where he had been arrested on board a plane heading for the French capital, Paris, carrying $30,000 (£22,000).

In February the World Bank suspended a first tranche of $100m which was to be used to fund free education in DR Congo because of concerns about corruption.

Two public education officials in DR Congo were sentenced to 20 years in prison for embezzlement last month.

The German humanitarian group Sea-Watch says it has rescued 121 migrants off Libya in two missions in the past 24 hours.

It has tweeted photos of the missions, saying 11 women and a baby were among those rescued on Friday morning:

Sea-Watch said it spotted the first group on Thursday evening within a day of returning to the rescue zone in the Mediterranean.

Another European group, SOS Mediterranee, says its vessel, Ocean Viking, has picked up 236 migrants in the zone over the past few days.

In a recent tweet, it said survivors spoke of being beaten to make them board flimsy rubber boats as they were worried by the sea conditions.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

Tanzania's new President Samia Suluhu Hassan has been elected as the chairperson of the governing party.

She was the only candidate for leadership of the Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party.

Correspondents say the appointment will give the country’s first female president greater power to influence the membership and activity of the party that in different forms has been in power since independence 60 years ago.

She became president when John Magufuli - a coronavirus sceptic - died in March.

President Samia has adopted a very different position, promoting a science-based approach to tackling the pandemic.

She has also reached out to Tanzania's political opposition which has been oppressed for years.

• Samia Suluhu Hassan - Tanzania's new president
• The cautionary tale of the president who denied coronavirus

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

Villagers in the Shiroro area of Nigeria’s western Niger state have resorted to paying armed gangs so that they can go to their farms without fear of being kidnapped.

The farming communities told the BBC that they had no other option as they did not want to miss the window for preparing their land for the early April rains.

“Villages have negotiated separately so the terms are different - in some areas there was a stipulated fee to pay while other villages agreed to supply the bandits a certain number of motorcycles,” a community leader in the village of Garmana told the BBC.

The gangs often travel on motorbikes to conduct their raids.

A man in another village said they had negotiated a 2m naira (£3,779, $5,272) payment with the bandits and under its terms villagers were also allowed to move around freely and the armed men would not raid the settlement.

Various state authorities told the BBC they had no knowledge of the deals.

Niger is one of several states that have come under increased attacks by armed groups recently.

Last week, the state's governor, Abubakar Bello, said some areas were now under the control of Boko Haram - Islamist militants who usually operate in the north-east of the country.

He warned that the gunmen were not far from the capital, Abuja, which is less than two hours away from Niger state.

• Read: The motorcycle bandits terrorising northern Nigeria

AFPCopyright: AFP

Kenya plans to ban romantic relationships between police officers.

The move is aimed at reducing the high rate of crimes of passion among officers, the interior minister said at a televised ceremony taking place at a police college.

The regulations first need to be given the stamp of approval by the National Security Council, which oversees all the country's security forces, Fred Matiang’i said.

In the military, relationships were already banned between officers of different ranks, he explained.

In the last few months, there had been increase in spousal murders among police officers, the minister said.

“We cannot look away any more and not address some of the challenges that we have in the security sector,” Mr Matiang’i said.

The gender relations office will also look into cases of sexual harassment reported by female police officers.

"Moving forward, it will be illegal for a police officer to date or get married to a fellow law enforcement officer. If it happens that two police officers fall in love, then one has to leave the service," The Star newspaper quoted the interior minister as saying.

ReutersCopyright: Reuters

The United Nations Human Rights Commission says it is deeply disturbed by events in Chad, where security forces opened fire this week on people protesting against the recent military takeover.

At least six people were killed on Tuesday in the capital, N’Djamena, and in Moundou. More than 650 people were arrested.

The UN commission condemned the disproportionate use of force and called on the authorities in Chad to respect human rights, including the right to peaceful assembly.

It criticised a decree imposing a blanket ban on demonstrations that are not given prior authorisation and called for a return to civilian rule and constitutional order.

The violence follows the death last week of President Idriss Déby. The 60-year-old, who had ruled Chad for 30 year, died after being wounded on the front line in clashes with advancing rebels.

• Idriss Déby obituary: End of Chad's 'Great Survivor'
• Chad's future rocked by president's battlefield death

Getty ImagesCopyright: Getty Images

What’s Somalia come to? For months now, holding elections in the country has proven to be a real nightmare.

“Talks have been going on since 2020,” says BBC Monitoring’s Abdullahi Abdi Guji. “We are back to square one.”

Politicians are at loggerheads - and so are their supporters, who last week clashed in the capital, Mogadishu.

“This has forced thousands of people in the city to flee their homes,” says the BBC’s Bella Sheegow, who is in the Somali capital.

“People are very afraid, everyone is worried about their future.”

But how exactly did we get here? And where did things go wrong?

Find out in Friday’s edition of Africa Daily.

Subscribe to the show on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.