Professional boxer Prince Larbi (L), also known as Prince The Buzz Larbi, trains with his dad and coach Daniel Larbi (R) at Will Power Boxing Gym in the Jamestown neighbourhood of Accra on December 10, 2024. (Photo by Olympia de Maismont/AFP Photo)





Maasai women dressed in traditional attire watch the competitions from the field at the Maasai Olympics 2024 in Kimana, on December 14, 2024. The Maasai Olympics is a biennial event celebrating the Maa culture and promoting wildlife conservation by replacing traditional hunting with athletic competitions inspired by Maasai warrior skills. (Photo by Luis Tato/AFP Photo)





Coronationville residents cover their faces as they queue to fill water bottles and jerrycans from larger water storage tanks amid an ongoing water outage in Johannesburg, on December 17, 2024. Johannesburg has been experiencing water disruptions for the past few days caused by maintainance work on the Eikenhof and Zwartkopjes pump stations. According to Coronationville residents this is a recurring problem forcing them to queue almost every week, not only during maintenance work on the infrastructure. (Photo by Roberta Ciuccio/AFP Photo)





Young dancers perform, during a Christmas ballet event in Kibera slum, one of the busiest neighborhoods of Kenya's capital, Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, December 21, 2024. (Photo by Brian Inganga/AP Photo)





Muay Thai participants, fight during the Kibra Youth Initiative boxing exhibition at the Kibera Fort Jesus grounds in Nairobi on December 23, 2024. The purpose of the boxing exhibition is to promote boxing and Muay Thai in the local communities and help prevention of crime and substance abuse among the growing youth within the area and surrounding communities. (Photo by Simon Maina/AFP Photo)





Hundreds of Legio Maria Church members, wearing colourful clothes, gather to pray and light candles at the church in the town with the Christmas Eve celebrations in the town of Mathare in Nairobi, Kenya on December 24, 2024. (Photo by Gerald Anderson/Anadolu via Getty Images)





Catholic priests enter the church for the Christmas mass at the Notre Dame de la Paix Cathedral in N'Djamena on December 24, 2024. (Photo by Joris Bolomey/AFP Photo)





Parish priest of Regina Mundi Church, Fr Nqobile Mzolo OMI (2nd L) gives gifts to parishoners at the end of the Christmas Mass at Regina Mundi Church in Soweto, on December 25, 2024. (Photo by Roberta Ciuccio/AFP Photo)





A participants poses for a photograph as she parades during Calabar Carnival in Calabar on December 28, 2024. Calabar Carnival is an annual carnival held in Cross River State, Nigeria: it is celebrated every December to mark Christmas celebration yearly. The quality of the festival has grown over the years making it Nigeria's biggest carnival and an internationally recognized festival. (Photo by Olympia de Maismont/AFP Photo)





Participants pose for a photograph as they parade during the Calabar Carnival in Calabar on December 28, 2024. Calabar Carnival is an annual carnival held in Cross River State, Nigeria: it is celebrated every December to mark Christmas celebration yearly. The quality of the festival has grown over the years making it Nigeria's biggest carnival and an internationally recognized festival. (Photo by Olympia de Maismont/AFP Photo)





Performers dance at the Fanal Festival in Saint-Louis, Senegal, an event that sheds light on the city's rich history and continues to captivate the local community on December 29, 2024. Once the political capital of French West Africa (AOF) from 1895 to 1902, and the capital of both Senegal and Mauritania until 1957, Saint-Louis is a place where colonial-era traditions still thrive. This year, the festival, themed “The Driving Force of Development: Culture”, featured three illuminated fanals (giant lanterns), which were brought to the city's square accompanied by local dances and songs. (Photo by Cem Ozdel/Anadolu via Getty Images)





Riot police lob tear gas canisters as they attempt to disperse protesters demonstrating against what they say is a wave of unexplained abductions of government critics, along the Aga Khan walk in downtown Nairobi, Kenya on December 30, 2024. (Photo by Monicah Mwangi/Reuters)





Police arrest a protester who has chained himself during protests against abductions in Nairobi, Kenya, Monday, December 30, 2024. (Photo by Andrew Kasuku/AP Photo)





Mounted anti-riot police officers try to disperse activists who had chained themselves on a galvanized steel chain during a protest against the rise in alleged abductions of government critics, in Nairobi, Kenya, 30 December 2024. The protests across the country are in response to a series of suspected abductions linked to state security forces. (Photo by Daniel Irungu/EPA/EFE)





A woman walks past a fire at the burned down secondhand clothing market at Kantamanto in Accra, Ghana, on January 2, 2025. The fire at the Kantamanto market began in the early morning hours, destroying a large part of the area and displacing thousands of traders. (Photo by Nipah Dennis/AFP Photo)





People try to salvage items from the burned down secondhand clothing market at Kantamanto in Accra, Ghana, on January 2, 2025. The fire at the Kantamanto market began in the early morning hours, destroying a large part of the area and displacing thousands of traders. (Photo by Nipah Dennis/AFP Photo)





An activist is arrested by Kenyan Police officers during a demonstration to demand the release of government critics who's abductions are unexplained in Nairobi on January 6, 2025. Four Kenyan youth who disappeared last month in the wake of unexplained abductions of government critics were freed on January 6, 2025, local media said. The East African nation has seen political turmoil since youth-led anti-government demonstrations mid last year. Dozens of Kenyans, primarily young men who have criticised President William Ruto online, were abducted in recent weeks, according to rights groups and their families. (Photo by Tony Karumba/AFP Photo)





Ethiopian pilgrims pray during a Mass service for Ethiopian Christmas at the Bole Medhane Alem cathedral in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Monday, January 6, 2025. (Photo by AP Photo)





An Egungun, a visible manifestation of the spirits of departed ancestors who periodically revisit the human community for remembrance, celebration, and blessings dances as musicians cheer in Ouidah, on January 9, 2025 during the first day of the Voodoo Festival. (Photo by Olympia de Maismont/AFP Photo)





Two Egungun, a visible manifestation of the spirits of departed ancestors who periodically revisit the human community for remembrance, celebration, and blessings leave a Voodoo convent in Ouidah, on January 9, 2025 during the first day of the Voodoo Festival. (Photo by Marco Longari/AFP Photo)