A selection of photos from across Africa this week:
Image captionIvorian fishermen return to shore in the main city of Abidjan on Wednesday…Image captionIn the city on Saturday, women take part in a beauty contest known as Miss Nappy. The term “nappy” is used across Francophone Africa to mean natural hair.Image captionA giant puppet of the late Amílcar Cabral, who led the fight against Portuguese colonial rule in Guinea-Bissau, is out on the streets of the capital amid election campaigning on Thursday…Image captionAfter weeks of political turmoil, the nation heads to the polls this coming Sunday. There are 12 presidential candidates – all hoping to get more than 50% of the vote.Image captionIt is all smiles in the Sidama zone of southern Ethiopia on Wednesday during a referendum on whether the people living there should have their own regional state.Image captionOn Friday, demonstrators in Algeria march amid heavy rain in the capital, Algiers, calling for a boycott of the election set for December – eight months after Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned as president.Image captionSudan has also seen the departure of a long-time leader this year. But these women are supporters of Omar al-Bashir, protesting outside a court in the capital, Khartoum, on Saturday where the ex-president is facing trial.Image captionJoy is in the air on Wednesday in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh, where children release balloons during events to mark World Children’s Day.Image captionThe day before in a market in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, a woman folds African print cloth, known as “lappas”, the European Pressphoto Agency reports.Image captionIt is all glitz and glamour at the Cairo International Film Festival on Wednesday, where Egyptian actress Menna Shalaby (L) receives an award for excellence from Tunisian actress Hend Sabry.Image captionA woman dances on Saturday at the Dunes Electronique music festival held in Ong Jmal in south-western Tunisia…Image captionIt is a two-day festival in the Sahara desert, which was had a three-year hiatus because of jihadist violence in the region…Image captionIt takes place on a former Star Wars film set, where US director George Lucas created the desert planet of Tatooine.Image captionPolice officers watch supporters of Zimbabwe’s Movement For Democratic Change (MDC) gathering outside the party’s headquarters in the capital, Harare, on Thursday…Image captionThe opposition party supporters had come to listen to a speech by their leader, but officers forcefully dispersed the crowd.Image captionA day earlier in Chishawasha, near Harare, Zimbabwean farmers start to prepare fields for the planting of maize.Image captionMigrants in South Africa take refuge in the Methodist Church in Cape Town on Friday. They want to be removed to another country because of recent xenophobic violence.Image captionAnd cyclists ride over the Mandela Bridge in South Africa’s main city of Johannesburg on Sunday during a 94.7km (58.8-mile) race known as the 947 Cycle Challenge.
