In tonight's edition: Nigeria's Dangote refinery opens itself to public ownership with plans to raise $1.6 billion dollars from retail investors across the continent. Also, DR Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi calls on the National Service to clean up the streets of Kinshasa. And with a month and a half to go until the Youth Olympic Games begin in Senegal, the Olympic flame begins its tour of the host country.

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote on Monday launched what is slated to be Africa's biggest initial public offering (IPO), aiming to raise $1.6 billion in part to expand his mega oil refinery into the world's largest.

In this edition: children have died after a school fire broke out in the M23 rebel occupied city of Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo. Also, Senegal looks to the skies as it seeks to develop its home-grown satellite industry. And finally, we wonder about the future of African cities. How will they cope with the population boom and climate crisis? Some at the Kenya architecture biennale in Nairobi tried to answer these questions.

In tonight's edition, a dramatic struggle for control of a throne in Uganda. Also, Rwanda shut down 101 alcoholic beverage factories last month and declared a public health crisis after at least 50 people were killed by contaminated illegal supplies. And Ethiopia celebrates its new year.

In an interview with FRANCE 24, former football star and current president of the Cameroonian Football Federation Samuel Eto'o spoke about the recent backlash towards FIFA president Gianni Infantino and confirmed he will support him for re-election because of "everything he has brought to African football", adding that the African federations will defend what seems "right to us given the challenges that we face in our own federations".

Algeria is severing diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates, state media reported Thursday. Algerian President ‌Abdelmadjid Tebboune has in the past accused the Gulf state of trying to meddle in Algeria's internal affairs.

In tonight's edition: aid groups are warning that funding cuts are forcing dozens of health clinics in Sudan to close. Also, an AI and Africa conference has kicked off in South Korea's capital. Finally, we take a look at the Rwanda Space Agency as Paris hosts its very first international space summit.

Al Qaeda affiliate JNIM has been intensifying its activities in Benin since 2022. The country serves as a transit corridor between the areas of operation of the group, which is well established in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. Two nature reserves have become logistical hubs for the jihadist fighters. Benin's army is striving to hold the line.

In tonight's edition, Hundreds of Burundians flocked to ⁠their embassy in ​Nairobi to get travel documents to return home. Also, in his first speech to the National assembly, Senegal’s Prime Minister Ahmadou Al Aminou Lo slams the rise of xenophobic rhetoric on the continent. Also, FRANCE 24's Georja Calvin Smith speaks to the founder of an AI surgical non-profit about the work being done in Tanzania to extend the reach of the country's 27 overburdened neurosurgeons.

In tonight's edition: An Egyptian TV presenter is among a dozen people a court has sentenced to death on drug charges. But first: a South African high court rejects a former defence minister's bid to have a corruption case against her dropped. Plus the very first Pan-African Architecture Biennale opened its doors on Monday in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

Frequent water and power cuts, long queues for bottled water, poultry farms destroyed by the heat: these have been the scenes across Tunisia this summer as millions of people were affected by shortages in electricity and water. Our Observers say this is the result of years of underinvestment in infrastructure while the Tunisian president, for his part, blames "deliberate and planned acts of sabotage”.

Sarah Khalifa, a well-known Egyptian TV presenter, has been sentenced to death for her involvement in a drug ring, state media reported over the weekend. Eleven others were also convicted in the case and handed a death sentence. Khalifa is best known for her program “Mission Impossible”.

In tonight's programme: Uber is pulling out of Nigeria and Uganda, leaving thousands of drivers scrambling for new sources of income. But first: a UN report says foreign fighters and support networks are fuelling Sudan's war and worsening violence against civilians. Finally, we discuss the African Diaspora International Film Festival with co-director Diarah N'daw-Spech and Laurence Cole, co-producer of the Nigerian film "Shadow of Greed".

François Picard is pleased to welcome Aida Alami, New York Times World contributor. Drawing on her own field reporting at the Moroccan border, Alami challenges attempts to explain the mass crossing to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta primarily through a theory of deliberate state orchestration. While acknowledging both Morocco's history of leveraging migration in its relations with Spain and the possibility that security forces made tactical decisions on the day, Alami insists on distinguishing evidence from inference.

Wildfires ripped across northeastern Algeria in late August. Photos and videos showing the mass burial of several dozen people have raised questions about the real death toll of the fires as Algerian authorities haven’t shared new numbers since August 26. A number of Moroccan social media accounts have also been sharing disinformation about the fires.

Delano D'Souza is pleased to welcome Alana Moceri, International Relations Professor at IE School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs. The migrant crossings at Ceuta have become both a domestic and international political lightning rod. At home, Pedro Sánchez faces opponents who can cast migration in existential terms, with Spain's far right amplifying the rhetoric of "invasion." Internationally, the crisis exposes the geopolitical leverage inherent in control of the border. Ceuta thus emerges as more than a migration crisis: the border becomes at once an instrument of geopolitical leverage, a weapon in Spain's domestic political contest, and a battleground for competing narratives and disinformation.

Tunisia's top court on Thursday upheld prison sentences of up to 45 years for opposition leaders, lawyers and businessmen convicted in a major conspiracy case, in a ruling opponents said further entrenches President Kais Saied's authoritarian rule.

In tonight's edition: Legal loopholes and gaps about specialised medicine may be driving illegal organ harvesting in Nigeria. Also, South Sudan may be moving closer to delivering on elections scheduled for December. Finally, on the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, six colonial-era plantation estates have just been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.

In Tunisia, powerful heatwaves are driving power cuts and water shortage. While the country has been dealing with structural water scarcity and recurring drought for years, the current crisis is fuelling anger against the government, even as authorities attempt to coordinate water distribution efforts to quell the crisis.