Zuma to face fresh vote of "no-confidence"

South Africa’s Jacob Zuma faces a no-confidence vote this month, a fresh attempt to unseat the president by opponents emboldened by splits within his own party.

Zuma, who is battling a string of corruption allegations, is in a weakened position since he was replaced as leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party in December by Cyril Ramaphosa, the country’s deputy president.

The 75-year-old president is expected to meet the ANC’s six most powerful officials this weekend, but the agenda of the meeting has not been disclosed. Ramaphosa, 65, has been lobbying the ANC’s national executive to force Zuma to resign.

Eighty-one suspected Boko Haram fighters go on public trial in Niger

Eighty-one people accused of fighting for Boko Haram went on trial in Niger in a public court sitting, one of the first of its kind after closed-door trials of suspected insurgents were criticised by human rights groups.

Those on trial in a special international court in the capital Niamey come from Niger, Nigeria and Chad and are suspected of playing a role in Boko Haram’s near decade-long bid to create a caliphate in Nigeria.

Cape Town's water crisis affecting tourism

A chronic drought that could leave South Africa’s Cape Town without water within weeks is hurting visitor numbers and knocking a rare economic bright spot, officials said on Friday.

With experts predicting Cape Town will run out of water in mid-April, residents have been told to limit usage to 50 litres per person per day. An average bath holds 80 litres of water.

Hotels have asked guests not to use baths and to limit showers to two minutes or less, while some restaurants are switching to disposable cups and ditching table linen.

Odinga ally arrested by Kenya police following "symbolic inauguration"

Kenyan police on Friday arrested an opposition lawyer as the government defied a court order to lift a ban on three private television stations that had covered the symbolic presidential inauguration of opposition leader Raila Odinga.

Miguna Miguna has declared himself the “general” of Odinga’s National Resistance Movement, which was declared a “criminal group” because of its stated intent to establish a parallel government after last year’s disputed election.

The lawyer was detained in a dawn raid on his Nairobi home. Miguna had stood beside Odinga at Tuesday’s symbolic “swearing in”, a blatant challenge to the authority of President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Global Partnership for Education launches Education Data Solutions

In an effort to help developing countries strengthen their collection, management and utilization of education data, high-level representatives from the private sector, international organizations, developing country governments and other partners came together at the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) Financing Conference in Dakar, Senegal, to launch a major new initiative called the Education Data Solutions Roundtable.

The initiative aims to improve developing countries’ capacity to gather accurate, comprehensive and timely data, which is essential to understand where improvements are needed in education systems and where progress is being made.