Source: BBC News

Friday 10 January 2025

A selection of the week’s best photos from across the African continent and beyond:

Revellers flood Cape Town’s streets on Saturday for Tweede Nuwe Jaar (Second New Year), a vibrant annual festival rooted in the South African city’s slave history…
EPA A group of five people wearing white and green suits participate in the Tweede Nuwe Jaar festival - Saturday 4 January 2025
Dressed as minstrels, people strum banjos and sing songs dating back to the 1800s…
Esa Alexander / Reuters A man wearing a white, red, and blue costume with an elaborate headgear poses in a split position with his tongue sticking out at the Tweede Nuwe Jaar festival - Saturday 4 January 2025
…bold dance moves are an important part of the festivities as well.
Nipah Dennis / AFP Ghana's new President John Mahama holds the state sword at his inauguration in the capital Accra - Tuesday 7 January 2025.
On Tuesday, John Mahama wields the state sword following his inauguration as Ghana’s new president in the capital, Accra.
Khaled Desouki / AFP Multiple hot air balloons ascend into the sky in Egypt's southern city of Luxor - Thursday 9 January 2025.
Early Thursday morning, tourists in Egypt board hot air balloons in the southern city of Luxor.
Khaled Desouki / AFP A picture shows a newly-unearthed carved relief during a media event to announce new discoveries by an Egyptian archaeological mission at Queen Hatshepsut's Valley Temple in Deir El-Bahari on the Nile's west bank in Luxor - Wednesday 8 January 2025.
The day before, in the same city, newly unearthed archaeological discoveries at Queen Hatshepsut’s valley temple go on display…
Ahmad Hasaballah / Getty Images A picture shows a newly-unearthed stone blocks during a media event to announce new discoveries by an Egyptian archaeological mission at Queen Hatshepsut's Valley Temple in Deir El-Bahari on the Nile's west bank in Luxor - Wednesday 8 January 2025.
Over 1,000 decorated stone blocks were discovered.
Tony Karumba / AFP A Kenyan man is held by police officers in a vehicle for demanding the release of government critics abducted in the country - Monday 6 January 2025
A Kenyan man is detained by police during a demonstration on Monday in the capital, Nairobi, demanding the release of government critics abducted in the country.
Marco Longari / AFP A man, standing, drizzles gin over a young person sitting on the floor, who is covered in red palm oil mixed with maize flour, giving it a golden hue at a ceremony at the at the annual Voodoo festival in Benin, Ouidah - Thursday 9 January 2025.
In Benin, a Kokou initiate – a devotee of the warrior god in traditional religion – is covered in red palm oil mixed with maize flour, while gin is drizzled over their head during a ceremony at the annual Vodun festival in Ouidah…
Marco Longari / AFP A person wearing a richly textured outfit for the at the annual Voodoo festival in Benin, Ouidah represents the visible manifestation of the spirit of departed ancestors - Thursday 9 January 2025.
An Egungun, a visible manifestation of the spirit of departed ancestors, visits the community during the festival which celebrates the country’s Vodun heritage.