BBC News Africa

Tourism companies operating in Tanzania will, as of next month, have to bid for the right to hunt in designated areas through a new online auction system.

The move is aimed at preventing corruption in this lucrative sector of the travel industry.

Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority says 26 hunting blocks will be made, with a maximum of five blocks allowed for any company.

Most of these are in the Unesco-listed Selous Game Reserve, known for its elephants, lions, zebras and giraffes.

Tourism last year contributed $2.4bn (£1.9bn) to the Tanzanian economy, and almost 1.5 million people visited the country which counts beaches, wildlife safaris and Mount Kilimanjaro among its attractions.

AFP

Millions of dollars' worth of a protected kind of wood that went missing earlier this year after being confiscated by authorities has now been recovered, a senior Gabonese prosecutor says.

Kevazingo wood is native to Gabon's Congo Basin. The rare tree, which can take 500 years to grow to its full height of 40 metres (130 feet), is highly valued in Asia but is illegal to fell in Gabon.

A total of 353 transport containers of the timber - worth nearly $250m (£193m) - had been stolen in April from an overall quantity of 392 containers. Those 392 containers had been seized by authorities at the port of Owendo a month earlier.

But with 200 containers now recovered, there are still 153 unaccounted for.

Reuters quotes Gabonese authorities as saying that the shipping containers recovered so far were found on the port premises of Cameroon-registered transport company SOTRASGAB, and on the property of company Owendo Container Terminal (OCT).

Neither company has responded to requests for comment.

Reuters reports that two Chinese nationals are being held in relation to the case. Gabonese authorities are also involved, the news agency quotes Gabon’s prosecutor general Olivier N’zahou as saying.

AFP

Oxford Scientific Films

A baby elephant has been saved in Mozambique after it was spotted wandering around the park alone.

When rangers found the three-month-old elephant, it was extremely weak and hungry and they estimated it to have been on its own for about three days.

Joao Almeida, a vet, said it was "touch and go" whether the calf would survive, but the team fed it fluids and specialised milk to help it regain its strength.

As it is rare for elephants to abandon their young, it is likely the calf was sick for some time.

BBC

A Christian group have met in Nigeria's capital to mark the 16th birthday of Leah Sharibu, the only schoolgirl still held captive by Boko Haram after last year's mass kidnapping in Dapchi.

Leah was held back for refusing to convert to Islam after the Nigerian government negotiated and paid ransom for the release of the other schoolgirls.

"It’s been more than one year since Leah Sharibu was abducted and the painful thing is that we don't know her whereabouts, despite government’s promises," Gloria Samdi, the president of LEAH Foundation told the BBC.

On 19 February last year, Boko Haram militants had stormed the Government Girls Science and Technical College and kidnapped 110 school girls.

A month later, after negotiating with the Islamists, the Nigerian government announced the release of all but one of the kidnapped school girls. Leah was held back and not negotiated for on account of her faith.

She has been held captive by Boko Haram for more than 400 days.

BBC

Malian authorities say they are investigating after at least 12 people were killed by armed men who were dressed as traditional Dozo hunters.

The attackers arrived at the village near Niono, in central Mali, on motorbikes and left before security forces were able to get there.

Maliactu website reports that women and children are among the dead. Residents wounded in the attack were taken to a nearby hospital.

Local sources say this is the first time civilians have been targeted by such an attack in this area, but it follows tensions between ethnic groups in other parts of Mali in recent months.

In March, 160 members of the Fulani community were attacked.

The Malian prime minister and government resigned in April as a result of the violence.

Reuters

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Journalists were blocked from taking photos of the mayor of eThekwini after she was granted bail for a series of corruption charges.

Zandile Gumede was granted R50,000 ($3,500; £2,700) bail at Durban Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday.

She emerged into a chaotic crowd which broke into a commotion as she left the courthouse.

Her supporters covered her with coats and handbags so that she couldn't be photographed.

Mrs Gumede, a senior member of the governing ANC, has been accused of using her position to illegally interfere with a Durban solid waste contract.

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa has pledged to clean out the corruption that has become endemic under the ruling party, which has been in power for the past 25 years.