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Boss ladies and holy men: Africa's top shots

Natasha Booty
BBC News

A selection of the week's best photos from across the African continent and beyond:

KIM LUDBROOK / EPA The hedgehog is painted in cartoonish style with an endearing smile and a helmet on its head.KIM LUDBROOK / EPA
A woman walks past a mural of a huge hedgehog by artist Dekor One on Thursday in Johannesburg, South Africa.
LUC GNAGO / REUTERS A woman wearing an abaya and niqab walks past a bus with artwork depicting late South African President Nelson Mandela and former US President Barack Obama, whose later father was Kenyan. LUC GNAGO / REUTERS
Former US president and son of Kenya, Barack Obama, is painted on a matatu bus in Nairobi alongside the late Nelson Mandela on Wednesday.
AMR ABDALLAH DALSH / REUTERS A zebra's head it seen close up, with long eyelashes. Date: 31 January 2025.AMR ABDALLAH DALSH / REUTERS
This zebra grazes in Nairobi National Park on the outskirts of the same city days earlier.
OUSMANE MAKAVELI / AFP A man weaing an eye-catching outfit made of cowries and red-and-yellow tassels stands on stilts.OUSMANE MAKAVELI / AFP
Saturday marks this year's Ogobagna Masked Dance in Bamako, Mali. Chronic security threats in the central region have forced the Dogon people to hold their festival in the capital city instead.
SIMON MAINA / AFP A model walks down a fashion runway wearing a huge, fluffy, lilac hat and a fuzzy red-and-white jacket. SIMON MAINA / AFP
On the same day thousands of miles away in East Africa, this man models tactile tailoring at Nairobi Fashion Week.
KIM LUDBROOK / EPA Inflatable blue snakes with friendly, cartoonish faces stand in front of a tradional-looking Chinese building.KIM LUDBROOK / EPA
Preparations are under way the next day for Lunar New Year celebrations in Bronkhorstspruit, South Africa...
KIM LUDBROOK / EPA Women dressed in red, embroidered tops and skirts stand next to large ceremonial drums.KIM LUDBROOK / EPA
Drumming displays and other spectacles brought in the Year of the Snake.
MICHEL LUNANGA / AFP Undertakers line up at the edge of a dug mass grave. It is empty, ready for bodies to be laid to rest in it.MICHEL LUNANGA / AFP
On Tuesday, mass graves are dug for the many civilians killed in the Congolese city of Goma after Rwandan-backed M23 rebels overran the city. Horrific violence continues to play out despite the rebels' claim of a humanitarian ceasefire.
ROBERTA CIUCCIO / AFP Men gather wearing the same orange gowns and matching head covering.ROBERTA CIUCCIO / AFP
On Saturday monks, or swamis, line up ahead of the official opening of the biggest Hindu temple in the southern hemisphere - the BAPS Hindu Mandir in Johannesburg.
PATRICK MEINHARDT / AFP Hundreds of people dressed in white take part in a religious ceremony at a premises on the beachfront.PATRICK MEINHARDT / AFP
Worshippers gather at Dakar's Seydina Limamou Lahi Al Mahdi Mausoleum on Friday...
PATRICK MEINHARDT / AFP A young follower looks inquisitively through an opening in the brise-soleil wall.PATRICK MEINHARDT / AFP
They belong to Senegal's Layene Sufi order which dates back to 1884.

From the BBC in Africa this week:

Getty Images/BBC A woman looking at her mobile phone and the graphic BBC News AfricaGetty Images/BBC

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