Ghana has reimposed a ban on social gatherings as the number of Covid-19 cases spiral in the West African nation, the president announced Sunday.

Nine people died in an attack at a hotel on Sunday in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, and security forces ended the assault by al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab fighters early on Monday, a police spokesperson said.

The southern African Kingdom of Eswatini is overhauling its tax system and reducing its debt arrears as it seeks to shore up its finances amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Amid the Covid surge that has also left many officials dead, Zimbabwean authorities come face to face with reality long faced by poor.

Zimbabwean Finance Secretary George Guvamatanga said the money will allow the country to inoculate about 60% of its population estimated to be around 15 million people.

African leaders from the Great Lakes region called on rebels in the conflict-riven Central African Republic to agree to a ceasefire on Friday.

Scientific analysis has shown that bird flu killed at least 750 pelicans found dead last week in Senegal's Djoudj bird sanctuary, after authorities had initially ruled out the disease.

Zimbabwean miners are fretting over amendments to ownership laws that seem to be reintroducing the country's controversial indigenisation laws on the mining sector.

The African Union has secured an additional 400 million doses of coronavirus vaccines for its members, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Morocco will start rolling out its mass coronavirus vaccination programme on Thursday, the royal palace has said, the first African country to do so.

Vodafone Group is considering options for its Ghana business as the British telecommunications giant focuses on reorganising and paying down debt.

Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chin'ono, who has been jailed three times in six months for anti-government tweets, was granted bail Wednesday by the country's High Court after nearly three weeks in pre-trial detention.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases around the world has passed 100 million since the start of the pandemic, according to an AFP tally.

Malian and French forces have killed around 100 jihadists and took another 20 captive in a joint operation this January in central Mali, the West African nation's army has said in a statement.

A Zimbabwean government spokesperson who accused doctors of being "medical assassins" after four ministers died of coronavirus has sparked outrage in a country buckling under the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ugandan troops have withdrawn from around the home of opposition leader and popstar Bobi Wine, ending his house arrest since a 14 January election won by long-serving President Yoweri Museveni.

The death toll from storm Eloise rose to at least 13 on Monday after heavy winds, rain and flooding destroyed buildings, drowned crops and displaced thousands in parts of southern Africa.

Russia and China have approached Zimbabwe about supplying vaccines to tackle its escalating Covid-19 outbreak amid concern about Harare's ability to afford the shots.

The death toll from storm Eloise has risen to at least 12, according to figures from authorities across south-eastern Africa, where heavy winds, rain and flooding have also destroyed buildings and crops.

A Ugandan court has ordered security forces to cease surrounding the home of opposition leader Bobi Wine, whose house arrest since a mid-month presidential election has drawn international pressure, his lawyer has said.