• Malian government resigns as anger mounts over massacre

Mali will have a new prime minister ‘very soon,’ President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita's office said, after the resignation of the government on Thursday.

Prime minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga and his entire government resigned following two weeks of protests over their handling of an upsurge of violence in the centre of the country and a massacre last month that left 160 people dead.

• Two opposition leaders detained over Togo protests: party

Two leaders of an opposition party in Togo, the Pan-African National Party (PNP), have been detained following mass protests calling for a limit on presidential terms, a coalition of opposition parties said Thursday. Gueffe Nouridine and Kezire Azizou, prominent members of the PNP, were interrogated by Togolese intelligence services before being arrested Tuesday and detained at Lome Civil Prison.

• S.Africa judge boosts probe into suspected killers of Rwandan ex-spy

A South African magistrate opened the door Thursday for prosecutors to probe the assassination of an exiled Rwandan ex-spy, a critic of President Paul Kagame, in a Johannesburg hotel five years ago. After hearing from police investigators, Magistrate Mashiyane Mathopa sent the case to prosecutors to decide if there was evidence to bring charges against his alleged killers.

• US 'encouraged' in Sudan, sends envoy

The United States on Thursday praised orders by Sudan's new military leader to free political prisoners and end a night curfew as it dispatched an envoy to Khartoum to encourage a transition to democracy.

Makila James, the deputy assistant secretary of state who is in charge of eastern Africa, will head to Khartoum this weekend, an official said.

• Libya's accusation that France supporting warlord 'unfounded': Paris official

France on Thursday rejected Libya's "completely unfounded" accusation that it has been supporting strongman Khalifa Haftar, whose forces have launched an assault on Tripoli.

The interior ministry of Libya's internationally recognised government earlier Thursday accused France of actively supporting warlord Haftar and his self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA).

• Angolan leader cancels newly-awarded mobile phone licence

Angola's President Joao Lourenco has cancelled a mobile phone licence awarded to a little-known start-up company due to "non-compliance", his office said Thursday. Local company Telstar was last week awarded a license to operate the country's fourth mobile network, valued at $120-million-dollars (106 million euros), beating 26 other local and international firms. The tender will be reopened, said a statement from the presidency.

• Nigerian president increases minimum wage by two-thirds

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday signed into law an increase by two-thirds to the minimum wage in Africa's most populous country. It raises the minimum wage from 18,000 naira ($50) a month to 30,000 naira ($83).

Many Nigerians struggle to make ends meet amid rising living costs, with inflation in Africa's leading oil producer nudging 11.5 percent. More than 87 million of Nigeria's 190 million people live in extreme poverty on less than two dollars a day.

• Uber wins $1bn investment from Toyota, SoftBank fund

Japanese car giant Toyota and investment fund SoftBank Vision Fund on Friday unveiled an investment of $1 billion in US company Uber to drive forward the development of driverless ridesharing services. The latest cash injection, expected to close in the third quarter this year, came amid fevered anticipation of Uber's public share offering which is expected to be the largest in the tech sector for years.