Africa’s week in pictures
A selection of the week’s best photos from across the continent:
An assistant holds on to an eager participant just ahead of the start of the annual Bedouin camel race in Egypt’s South Sinai on Tuesday.
Priests pack into one of the rock-hewn churches in the northern Ethiopian town of Lalibela for the Orthodox Christmas service on Saturday…
The day of prayer and celebration begins in Lalibela the night before.
Some of the 20,000 people taking part in the annual pilgrimage of South Africa’s Shembe Church are seen walking on Saturday up to the holy mountain of Nhlangakazi near Durban…
Dancers perform on the mountain near the summit on Sunday – the occasion mixes Christian rituals with traditional Zulu elements.
During Benin’s national voodoo holiday on Tuesday, devotees perform rituals near the main city of Cotonou.
A crowd looks on as two rams lock horns during a fight on Sunday organised in the Agege district of Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos.
There is relief in Ivory Coast on Saturday as the 46 Ivorian soldiers who had been detained in Mali for six months return home to the delight of family and friends.
East African Regional Force soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo stand guard on Friday at a camp being handed over by M23 rebels as part of moves to end a conflict.
On Saturday, a fisherman in the Tunisian port of Zarzis gets his nets ready before setting off for his next catch.
The frequent power cuts in South Africa are not putting off this man who is reading the Quran in a mosque in Cape Town on Wednesday – using the light from his mobile phone.
