Skip to content

Flags, fists and falls: Africa's top shots

Natasha Booty
BBC News

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

CEM OZDEL / GETTY IMAGES A man paints graffiti text in the Wolof language onto a large mural. Next to it is a clenched fist, symbolising defiance.CEM OZDEL / GETTY IMAGES
On Sunday in Senegal's capital Dakar, graffiti artists paint images and messages of solidarity with Palestinians.
CEM OZDEL / GETTY IMAGES A large sheep appears to pucker up to a man. Its teeth are protruding comically from its mouth.CEM OZDEL / GETTY IMAGES
Days later in the same city, breeders bring their prize animals to compete at an international livestock fair. The spotlight was on the Ladoum - the world's most expensive breed of sheep.
ISSIFOU DJIBO / EPA Men hold a boy up in the air. He is waving the flag of Burkina Faso and the flag of Niger.ISSIFOU DJIBO / EPA
On Tuesday in Niger, supporters of the military government praise their decision to forge the Alliance of Sahel States with other junta-led neighbours and drop out of the long-established West African regional alliance, Ecowas.
THIERRY CHESNOT / GETTY IMAGES A man walks down a catwalk dressed in black and smiles at seated spectators. Behind him are models dressed in this clothing.THIERRY CHESNOT / GETTY IMAGES
Hearty applause greets Cameroonian designer Imane Ayissi after his latest show at Paris Fashion Week in France on Monday.
JULIE SEBADELHA / AFP A tall woman in a lilac tweed shorts-suit waves at photographers as she walks.JULIE SEBADELHA / AFP
In the same city the day before, French-Senegalese film director Ramata-Toulaye Sy waves to cameras as she leaves the Chanel Spring-Summer show.
MOISE NIYONZIMA / EPA A man dressed in combat fatigues holds his gun. He is partly hidden by foliage.MOISE NIYONZIMA / EPA
On Wednesday in the Democratic Republic of Congo a fighter belonging to the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel movement, which has seized much of Goma city, stands at a border crossing...
AFP Residents swim while carrying their jerry cans as they gather to collect water.AFP
Many in Goma are without safe drinking water, and are resorting to filling jerry cans in Lake Kivu.
DANIEL BELOUMOU OLOMO / AFP A woman gestures towards a powerful waterfall.DANIEL BELOUMOU OLOMO / AFP
On Saturday, 71-year-old Noël Louise Mekah Fossi, the daughter of murdered Cameroon independence activist Jacob Fossi, stands at the site of his death in Metche Falls. She is an outspoken critic of France's foreign policy towards its former colony.
CINDY ORD / GETTY IMAGES Four people stand in a row at a photocall, holding up the Sudanese flag.CINDY ORD / GETTY IMAGES
In the US on Monday, Ibrahim Snoopy Ahmad, Rawia Alhag, Anas Saeed and Timeea Mohamed Ahmed attend the premiere for Khartoum at the Sundance Film Festival.
PAUL KANE / GETTY IMAGES A man poses with his thumbs up. Next to him a woman waves the Kenyan flag.PAUL KANE / GETTY IMAGES
A day earlier, Kenyan rugby player Denis Abukuse take photos with fans after a match against New Zealand in Australia.
MATTHEW JACOBS / AFP A woman stands outside the capitol building wearing a dress modelled after the Liberian flag.MATTHEW JACOBS / AFP
This woman flies the flag for Liberia ahead of President Joseph Boakai's state of the union speech in Monrovia on Monday.
KHALED DESOUKI / AFP People sit at a cafe that has high ceilings and domed blue doors.KHALED DESOUKI / AFP
On Tuesday in Egypt's capital, Cairo, people sit at the Umm Kulthum cafe, which is named after the late Egyptian singer, songwriter and film actress.
JEFF PACHOUD / AFP Three men in chef's hats and gowns work on intricate pasty dishes.JEFF PACHOUD / AFP
Moroccan chefs Mohamed El Yazidi (L) and Omar Eddie (R) compete at the Bocuse d'Or pastry contest in France on Friday.
FETHI BELAID / AFP A man immerses himself in a round pool.FETHI BELAID / AFP
On Saturday, bathers enjoy a thermal pool in north-eastern Tunisia.
RODGER BOSCH / AFP A man waves the flags of Kenya and South Africa on Cape Town's waterfront. People hold him up in the air and celebrate with him.RODGER BOSCH / AFP
And on Sunday, Japanese runner "Gump" Suzuki celebrates competing his six-month run from Kenya to South Africa.

From the BBC in Africa this week:

Getty Images/BBC A woman looking at her mobile phone and the graphic BBC News AfricaGetty Images/BBC

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

BBC Africa podcasts