In Burkina Faso, a coup within a coup has unseated Lt. Col. Damiba, who was himself responsible for a coup in January. Capt. Ibrahim Traore, the country’s new leader, claimed the coup was due to the government’s failure to deal with insurgency. At 34 years old, Traore is currently the youngest head of state in Africa. ECOWAS is concerned that the coup will further postpone elections and has already sent mediators to Ougadougou.

https://www.voanews.com/a/bukina-faso-s-traore-the-fight-we-are-engaged-in-is-not-about-power/6772326.html 

Tsitsi Dangaremba, award-winning Zimbabwean author, has been given a suspended prison sentence and a fine for a 2020 anti-government protest. Dangaremba and a friend, Julie Barnes, were arrested for walking through Harare with a sign saying “we want better.” https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/30/zimbabwe-court-fines-novelist-tsitsi-dangarembga-over-protest 

• The Nigerian Official Selection Committee will not submit a film for consideration in the 2023 Oscars. The committee received three Yoruba language films: Aníkúlápó; King of Thieves, and Elesin Oba, The King’s Horseman, but voted that none were eligible. https://nollysilverscreen.com/again-nosc-finds-no-nigerian-film-eligible-for-oscars/
• The Grammys is reportedly considering adding a separate genre category for Afrobeats music. Some see this as a welcome move to honour the genre, while others feel Afrobeats should garner nominations in mainstream categories instead. https://www.okayafrica.com/grammys-afrobeats-category/ 
• Ike Ude Nollywood Portraits Exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art portrays Nigerian celebrities to replace “tired, old, depressing, racist and colonial images” of Africans with images of “power, wealth, intelligence and beauty.” https://www.instagram.com/reel/CiJ6l1MAuoO/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D