Africa’s week in pictures: 9-15 December 2023

A selection of the best photos from the African continent and beyond.

Students shelter from the sun during celebrations on Tuesday to mark Kenya’s 60 years of independence in the capital, Nairobi.

A designer parasol is on display during a show on Saturday in Nairobi for Africa Fashion Week.

On the same day, models wait backstage at a hotel in Senegal’s capital during a show for Dakar Fashion Week…

Another model at the event is pictured backstage with a juxtaposition of ear accessories.

Barbie fans should be impressed with the ink used across Egypt to stain fingers during its three-day election. Here a woman in Cairo dips in on Tuesday after voting.

The day before, ambulances and lorries with aid are pictured at Egypt’s Rafah crossing waiting to enter the Gaza Strip.

A woman takes part in a pro-Palestinian protest in Morocco’s capital, Rabat, on Sunday calling for an end to Israeli attacks in Gaza.

On Tuesday, people queue to buy petrol in Cameroon’s capital, Yaoundé – where many garages have shut because of a chronic shortage. The government blames bad weather for delaying imports by sea.

The next day, a man walks past the ruins of a hotel in Ivory Coast’s beach resort of Grand Bassam that was abandoned after it was damaged by high tides in August.

A supporter of Niger’s junta takes part in a protest in Niamey on Saturday against regional sanctions imposed after July’s coup with a sign that reads in part: “Down with the traitors of the nation”.

On the same day in Nigeria, a dog – dressed in an Igbo chieftaincy outfit – has his cap adjusted at the Lagos Dog Carnival.

Girls see the funny side as they are photographed on Friday during the visit by France’s prime minister to Mayotte, the French island that is part of the Comoros archipelago.

This is one of many billboards of a masked face that have popped up in Ghana’s capital, Accra. Pictured on Wednesday, it is suspected to be a teaser for a new entrant to the political scene.

South Sudanese soldiers are seen on a plane in Goma as they leave the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday after serving in a regional force that has been kicked out.

South African police clash with residents of an informal settlement in Cape Town during a clampdown on illegal electricity connections on Tuesday.

Ballet dancers perform the Nutcracker on Friday at the zoo in the South African city of Johannesburg…

It is part of Joburg Zoo’s Festival of Lights put on every Christmas.

The festive spirit is on display at a marine park in South Africa’s coastal city of Durban, where swimming Santas greet guests on Thursday.

And a vendor arranges Christmas trees for sale on Tuesday along a street in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare.