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Creative industries have huge potential to fuel economic and political development in Africa. Is the sector doing what it can to encourage them?...

Sharia courts in the northern Nigerian state of Bauchi bail seven men on trial for allegedly belonging to a gay club Two Islamic courts in northern Nigeria have secretly released on bail seven men on trial for allegedly breaking the law on homosexuality, a prison official and a court clerk said on Friday. The seven were among a dozen men the Bauchi state sharia commission formally charged on 6 January...

Though sexual discrimination remains widespread in Africa, a study of 34 countries reveals growing support for women's rights There was the Ugandan minister who defended raping girls as "natural", echoing a similar attitude among Nigerian lawmakers . In Somalia, a court sentenced an alleged rape victim to jail without bringing the accused men to court. This spring, Mozambique could pass a...

Effects of depleted harvest could be compounded by sectarian unrest in the north and demand from neighbouring Niger Nigeria is facing a possible food supply crisis this farming season, according to traders, as the agricultural sector grapples with a predicted shorter rainy season, sectarian violence and greater demand from Niger. ...

With the contemporary art scene on the continent flourishing, The Culture Trip suggests some of the people worth watching Exiled from Zimbabwe after producing an unflattering portrait of the countrys president, Robert Mugabe, Kudzanai Chiurai , the first black artist to get a BA in fine arts at the University of Pretoria, has become an important figure in African art. Chiurai uses dramatic multimedia...

Five-year conservation project could revive the population of Cross River gorilla in their only remaining habitat in Africa Adam Vaughan ...

Young people under 30 are the majority in many countries in the Middle East and South America, yet politicians do little or nothing for them. Is the demographics of the 'youth bulge' enough to explain the huge rise in disaffection? • A youth heatmap of the world Towards the end of January, Egyptian activists shared a picture on social media of some of their grey-haired countrymen. The people pictured...

Officials close 85 schools in north-eastern Borno, affecting nearly 120,000 students, after spate of attacks by Islamic militants Nigeria's north-eastern Borno state government is closing all high schools amid fears of huge attacks by Islamic extremists – a move that may be considered a victory for the Boko Haram terrorist network, whose name means "western education is forbidden". School officials...

Unregulated mining in rural northern Nigeria is causing blindness and paralysis among children and making adults infertile Flanked by fields of millet and groundnut, the northern Nigerian outpost of Bagega is so far out on the periphery of the global economy that when the financial crisis struck in 2008 few residents had any idea it was happening. And no one in a village without cars, electricity...

Hundreds killed in past year in clashes between cattle-herding Muslim Fulani people and Christian settlers Gunmen have killed more than 100 people in an attack on three villages in central Nigeria, according to local government officials. Police confirmed raids by Fulani herdsman late on Friday on the villages of Ugwar Sankwai, Ungwan Gata and Chenshyi, in Kaduna state, an area where longstanding...

Only one entrance open at 60,000-capacity national stadium during recruitment drive for immigration service Seven people have been killed in a stampede at Nigeria's national stadium during a recruitment drive for the immigration service, according to officials. The stampede late on Saturday shows the desperation for jobs in Africa's second biggest economy and most populous nation, where oil wealth...

10 - 14 March 2014: Catch up with our selection of this week’s development-related news, images and key reports Anna Leach ...

The Nigerian author's acclaimed new novel Americanah beats Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch, while Sheri Fink's book about the days following Hurricane Katrina takes the non-fiction prize • The 2014 Bailey's prize for women's fiction longlist • How the Guardian reviewed Americanah Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's first novel was longlisted for the Man Booker prize; her second, Half of a Yellow Sun , won the...

s most populous state. Boko Haram is believed to be responsible for killing at least 1,300 people in the past two months and more than 130 people in the past week. The radical sect claims ties to al-Qaida and has ambitions to impose sharia law on Nigeria's 170 million people. In Boko Haram's heartland, even the national military is outgunned in what is fast becoming a lesson to the world in how not...

s symmetric approach to an asymmetric counter-terrorism battle in states under emergency has failed. The spate of almost daily attacks on hapless civilians underscores this point. These mindless killings from highly networked, richly financed groups waging insurgent war often from within civilian population use both traditional and modern weapons. "Their tactics can best be quelled by military operations...

Nobel-winning author writes open letter rejecting government honour in protest against inclusion of former dictator Wole Soyinka ...

28th annual billionaires' list. Women now make up 10% of the global super-rich. Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, with a personal fortune worth more than $1bn (£600m), becomes one of the highest-profile new entrants to the Forbes list, joining Meg Whitman of Hewlett-Packard as the only other female tech billionaire. Nigeria's first female billionaire, businesswoman Folorunsho Alakija,...

other than Facebook' Aristocrats rarely turn whistleblower. After all, they are more often than not the beneficiaries of a social order that guarantees them a life of privilege. So the least one could expect is that they avoid rocking the boat. Criticism of the status quo is supposed to be the preserve of the have-nots. Hence the surprise of many when Lamido Sanusi , scion of one of the most powerful...

s restive north-east, the epicentre of the Boko Haram insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives since 2009. French president François Hollande, who paid a two-day visit to Nigeria last week, issued a statement condemning "the terrorist attacks with the greatest possible rigour". The last two weeks have been particularly bloody in Africa...

t decide whether the change she desires is one of location or job, or indeed some kind of inner transformation. Geographical change comes when Deola...