Africa in pictures: 7-13 November 2014
A selection of photos from around the African continent this week:
People look at a stainless steel sculpture of a pair of spectacles entitled Perceiving Freedom in Cape Town on Tuesday. The spectacles overlook Robben Island, where anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela was jailed for most of his 27 years in prison. The sculpture has caused controversy in South Africa, with some loving the creative expression on public space whilst others criticizing it as a marketing stunt for the company which sponsored it.
Musicians perform at a healing ritual, which revolves around drumming and dancing, in Egypt's capital, Cairo, on Wednesday...
Men play a secondary role in the ancient ceremony, which sees performers seek to communicate with spirits to drive away negative energy and achieve inner peace. The ritual is most prominent in southern Egypt and is practised in neighbouring Sudan as well.
Members of Zambia's Defence forces hold the hats of colleagues at the state funeral of President Michael Sata in the capital, Lusaka, on Tuesday. Tens of thousands of mourners packed the National Heroes Stadium to pay their respects to Mr Sata...
A day earlier, these children observed a moment of silence before a football match on the outskirts of Lusaka. The Zambian leader died of an undisclosed illness at a UK hospital on 28 October at the age of 77...
In Sierra Leone's capital Freetown on Wednesday, relatives mourn as health workers take the body of a person who died of Ebola. The number of people killed by the virus passed the 5,000 mark this week.
A rubbish collector gives the thumbs up after collecting trash in Guinea's capital, Conakry, on Friday. Ebola was first identified in Guinea in March, before spreading to neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia, the two countries worst-affected by the outbreak.
In Kenya on the same day, one man pushes his bicycle and another his motorbike on a railway line near the capital, Nairobi. The city was founded in 1899 and grew up around a railway line which stretched from Mombasa on the Indian Ocean coast to Uganda.
In Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou on Friday, a student stands in front of a chalkboard as he gives a lesson to his colleagues on campus. Many people are hoping that life in Burkina Faso, one of the world's poorest states, will improve following the overthrow of long-serving ruler Blaise Compaore in a mass uprising last month.