Parties, pyres and pharaohs: Africa’s top shots

Story By: BBC

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

NESE ARI/ ANADOLU / GETTY IMAGES A woman stands on the beach in Zanzibar holding a bunch of seaweed in her hand. In the distance not far away there is a small sailing boat. — On Wednesday, women harvest seaweed on the shores of Zanzibar.

Per-Anders Pettersson / Getty Images Riders wait for a best bike look contest during a bicycle gathering and competition on June 14, 2025 in Alabama, a township outside Klerksdorp, South Africa. — These boys watch a biking contest in South Africa’s Alabama township on Saturday…

SIYABONGA SOKHELA / GALLO IMAGES / GETTY IMAGES A woman dressed in red stands on stand with her arms in the air. — On the same day in the city of Durban, singer MaWhoo performs at a Youth Day rally. The public holiday is held on 16 June in honour of black students killed by police during the 1976 Soweto Uprising, which marked a turning point in the struggle against the racist system of apartheid.

PAT BATARD / HANS LUCAS / AFP / GETTY IMAGES Two women clap their hands and dance on stage facing the audience. — Beninese great Angelique Kidjo is joined on stage by Brazilian singer Flavia Coelho at a concert in southern France on Sunday.

BRENTON GEACH / GALLO IMAGES/ GETTY IMAGES Firefighters look on as a fire blazes above the roadside. They have lorries and hose pipes which they are readying for use. — Strong winds help spread forest fires in Cape Town, South Africa, on Sunday.

THOMAS MUKOYA / REUTERS A man shields his face and runs away from a tear gas canister. — Tear gas is fired on Tuesday in the streets of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, where police are being criticised for a brutal crackdown on people protesting against the death in custody of 31-year-old blogger Albert Ojwang.

ANGELA WEISS / AFP / GETTY IMAGES A man wearing a fancy dress, pharaoh-style hat smiles and talks on the phone during the match. — Fans of top Egyptian football club Al-Ahly put on a brave face as their side lose 2-0 to Palmeiras of Brazil, in the Fifa Club World Cup on Thursday. Bad weather stopped play for 40 minutes at one point.

TOYIN ADEDOKUN / AFP / GETTY IMAGES Nigerian professional MMA fighter Richard Muzaan climbs the fight cage and shouts to fans after winning. — In Lagos on Friday, Richard Muzaan of Nigeria triumphs over Burkina Faso’s Israël Mano to take the MMC lightweight title at the African Knockout Championship.

ANOUK RIONDET / AFP / GETTY IMAGES A man stands close to colourful paintings. — Moroccan writer and artist Tahar Ben Jelloun admires his paintings at the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rabat on Tuesday.

JOEL SAGET / AFP / GETTY IMAGES Gideon Appah stands next to his works at 'Gallery 1957' in Paris. — Gideon Appah, a Ghanaian painter based in Accra, poses alongside his pieces on display at a gallery in France on Monday.

THOMAS MUKOYA / REUTERS Kenyan police officers watch as a large pyre made up of rifles and other guns is set on fire. — In Kenya on Friday, security forces look on at the ceremonial burning of some of the 7,000 illegal firearms regional forces say they have seized from criminals.

EPA / EFE Bishops dressed in black and purple cassock rise from their seats, as the Pope stands at the front of the room and addresses them. — The Catholic Church’s new pontiff, Pope Leo XIV, holds an audience with Madagascar’s bishop in the Vatican on Monday.

VCG /GETTY IMAGES A woman curtseys for the camera as she and others walk through a bright blue passageway designed to replicate the streets of Chefchaouen. — Chinese tourists visit what is billed as a life-size replica of Morocco’s famously colourful city of Chefchaouen. It has been recreated in an outdoor park in northern China.

OMER URER / ANADOLU / GETTY IMAGES Women carry their loads either on their heads or on their backs as they continue their daily life on one of the world's poorest countries and a small nation in West Africa in Lome, Togo on June 13, 2025. — And on Friday, street vendors cater to passers-by in Togo’s capital, Lomé.

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